


The Godmother, the Singer & the Undertaker

by Komakoma



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mobtale (Undertale), Character Death, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gangs, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mage OC - Freeform, Mobsters, Named Readers - Freeform, Protective OC, Reader-Insert, Readers are all OCs, Slow Burn, So many OCs, Think of the 1920s, Well technically not exactly a reader, friendships, mafia stuff, mafiatale, theres a mentioned death of multiple characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-08-02 00:02:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 52,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16294490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Komakoma/pseuds/Komakoma
Summary: In the world where the government and the city is ruled by the mobs, the Godmother tries to keep her friends and family safe, she’ll do whatever it takes to keep the peace in her part of the city. But when the barrier breaks and a past is made obvious to her, she knew she couldn’t do it on her own.As time passes and they interact with the monsters, Sans and Gaster becomes suspicious of her actions and try to dig in to their pasts to find a ulterior motive. How much of their past are they willing to give, and how much of their past can they hide before each of their dark secrets are uncovered?[Giving all three skeles some love because they deserve it!!](Hiatus, will be back!!!)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, so uh this is like my first fan-fic that I have ever written so imma just see how this goes. I had this story in my mind for a very long time and I guess I just wanted to write it all out and see what happens. If you have any constructive criticism or advice please feel free to comment! I also don't have a beta reader and just like put everything into Grammerly so if anyone is up for it please comment too!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the Mobtale AU nor the Undertale characters, they belong to their lovely creators. Everyone else are my OCs.

**Verona POV**

The jazz band plays behind her as she sings her last song for the night and probably the last song in this bar. She was going to miss this. “The Table in the Corner” is an old bar in the town and it was Verona’s favourite place to sing in, the people were nice, the manager was like a father to her and this was the bar that the Don first brought her to. Too bad the old man decided to retire and close the place. He wanted to spend more time with his family and give this space to someone who would take it off his hands, but not many people are interested in managing a bar these days, so he closed the place down.

 

Verona sang her last note as the audience erupted with applause and the band ended the song. She bows and exits the stage, making her way to the bar where the manager was polishing a glass with his wrinkly hands.

 

“Good job out there Ver, yer voice s’ as stunning as always.” he says looking up

 

“Too bad you won’t hear it anymore after tonight, old man” Verona sighs looking back at him “...You sure there’s no one that can take over the place? I’m sure the regulars feel the same way I do.”

 

“Sorry, kiddie. Bartending is just not a thing youngsters want to do anymore, and plus ya shouldn’t let this place hold ya back from singin. Go spread yer songs at other places, doesn’t have to be a bar.”

 

“But I like singing at bars, specifically this one. I know everyone and everyone in this part of town is so nice.” Verona whines and sinks onto the bar top, resting her chin on her arms

 

“Then that’s yer loss kiddie. Now scoot, it’s almost closing time.” The manager puts down the glass and throws her a wet cloth. “Help me wipe em tables.”

 

(time skip brought by _The Table in the Corner_ )

 

Verona makes her way home after the long night, dropping her things on the table when she enters her small apartment. Her pet cat comes running from her room to greet her “Mrow.”  
  
“Hey there kitty, I’m back.” she squats down to bat the calico cat

 

Verona sinks onto the sofa and reaches to turn the portable radio on. A familiar upbeat starts playing as she scratches the spot behind her cat’s ear and relaxes further into the sofa. Suddenly the song stops and the news jingle starts to play. “Hey.” she complains, annoyed that the song stopped.

 

_“Attention all citizen, this is an urgent announcement. This afternoon, the people of Ebott City experienced a slight tremor, it has been investigated and it has been found that a new species of beings called monsters have emerged from mount Ebott. They are currently residing at the bottom of the mountain as the Mayor decides where to house them in the city. For your own safety, please do not enter the area around the mountain. I repeat-”_

 

“Haaah... Monster? What do you think bout that kitty?” Verona sighs, looking down at the cat purring on her stomach

 

“Mrow”

 

“Yeah, me too kitty. Me too”

  


**Kyari POV**

“Thank you for coming, if you need anything else please feel free to come again.” Kyari waves a woman off as she exits the parlour. She had called in for a urgent appointment regarding her recently passed mother. Kyari let out a loud yawn as she stretched her back, it had been a long day at the parlour, managing everything from future funerals, new appointments and cleaning the area.

 

She turns her radio on for some background music as she gets ready to lock up the place. She bounces around the parlour to the beat of the jazzy music, locking the doors of the various rooms. As she moves to turn the radio off to leave, the news jingle interrupts the song and the announcement plays,  


_“Attention all citizen, this is an urgent announcement. This afternoon, the people of Ebott City experienced a slight tremor, it has been investigated and it has been found that a new species of beings called monsters have emerged from mount Ebott. They are currently residing at the bottom of the mountain as the Mayor decides where to house them in the city. For your own safety, please do not enter the area around the mountain.-”_ Kyari turns the radio off and jingles her keys.

 

“Hmm, it looks like I’ve got more potential customers.” She thinks out loud locking the main door.

  


**Luminari POV**

The Don leans back against her tall back chair, reading the report about the manager of _The Table at the Corner_ retiring and the bar closing, he had approached her about it and she wished the old man well. “Wonder what’s going to happen to Ver…”  her thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door

 

“Mother?” a smooth baritone voice comes from behind the door

 

“Come in, Sams.” she calls out at the door

 

“You might want to hear this.” The door opens and her white hair’s family member walks in and turns the radio on.

 

_“ -the mountain. I repeat. This afternoon, the people of Ebott City experienced a slight tremor, it has been investigated and it has been found that a new species of beings called monsters have emerged from mount Ebott. They are currently residing at the bottom of the mountain as the Mayor decides where to house them in the city. For your own safety, please do not enter the area around the mountain. Thank you.”_

 

Luminari’s eyes widen as Sams could see a small sparkle in them. “Sams, is there any free residential areas in our area or any space to house the monsters?”

 

“We’ve expanded out to the slums near the Corsican’s territory, the people that lived there moved into the new flat so it’s empty now. The builders have cleared the area to prepare it for new development, other than that we don’t have anywhere else to house the monsters. We don’t even know how many there are.” He answers.

 

Luminari thinks for a moment “... Good enough. You, David and Jaz go and check them out. If possible, go and meet the king and queen of the monsters and assure them that the monsters are taken care of. Introduce them to the city, tell them about the families. Talk about the space and have Jaz work out some sketches for the plans of the living space. I’ll leave everything to the three of you, bring more people if you want. I’ll talk with the Mayor and smoothen everything out.”

 

“Yes. boss” He answers and turns to leave.

 

“And Sams, be nice to them.” Luminari says as he has a hand on the door

 

“I’ve got a smile on my face as always, mother.” he laughs and leaves her office

 

Luminari smiles and starts to dial the Mayor’s private number. The ringtone echoes on the other side of the line “It’s gonna be a busy few weeks for all of us...”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Luminari Asterix *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo! 1st chapter is out, hope ya'll enjoy it!

Two months after the monster’s resurfacing, the construction of the monster settlement was finished and the monsters have all found a proper home for themselves. The whole integration process was overlooked by Sams and the other appointed members, Luminari never stepped foot outside of their home. She had approved everything that was in her power to make sure that the monsters were comfortable in their new surrounding. 

 

Amidst the monster community, a new mob family was formed with the ex-royal scientist W.D. Gaster as the Don and his two sons Sans and Papyrus as his right-hand men. After their meeting with Sams at the camp, they decided to form their own family to protect the rest of the monster and secure their area. Sams reported this to her and she was surprised that she approved that as well. “I don’t mean to be rude but, aren’t they already under your care? Why would they need to form a new family?” He asks.

  
“I cannot baby them forever, Sams. The monsters are a big community and would want a sense of belonging in this human populated world. And plus, with new families we can have more allies on our side no?” Luminari answers smiling back at him. 

 

Sams sighs in response, thinking about the problems that would arise in the future with the other families…   


 

* * *

(Time skip brought to you by a worried Sams)

 

**Gaster POV**

The skeleton brothers lounged on the sofa talking to each other as their father sat behind the office desk looking at the administrative papers that Luminari had approved of. It was his idea to form a monster mob family from the information the Asterix’s representative provided, it was to keep the rest of monster kind safe and form more connection with the humans. But he never thought that an existing Don would approve of its formation, especially when they were under their care. They must have a motive behind their actions. Humans are known to be cunning creatures, always focusing on their survival and anything that would benefit them. Like the representative mentioned, all the powerful Dons of the city are rich and have the entire area at their fingertips. The one that helped them, Don Asterix, seems almost too kind compared to a regular human, they must have an intention for helping them.  **Maybe they want money? Weapons? At worse, enslave the monsters?** Gaster thought to himself.  **No, then they wouldn’t have approved of the new family.** It was too confusing thinking of the Don’s intentions, he would need to ask them himself.

 

He needs to meet their boss. Gaster realised that he’s never seen Don Asterix before, the representative also never mentioned their gender. He could only assume that it was a man as all the other Dons the Asterix representative spoke off were men, but he could never be too sure. 

  
**“Boys, let’s go out. I want to meet a certain human.”** Gaster said rising from his seat

**  
** “WOWEE, ARE WE GOING TO MEET SOMEONE NEW? MAKE A NEW FRIEND PERHAPS?” Papyrus jumped out of his spot on the sofa, making Sans sink into it further

  
“who on earth are you planning to meet at this time of the day.” sans said looking at his watch, it was 9 pm.

  
**“The one named Don Asterix.”** Gaster answers walking to the door.  **“Let’s give them a surprise visit, I’m sure they don’t mind.”**

 

“whatever you say, boss.” sans said holding onto Papyrus’ arm

  
“FINALLY, WE GET TO MEET THE ESTEEMED DON OF THE ASTERIX! I THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE THE GREATEST SURPRISE FOR THEM!” Papyrus exclaims, smiling widely

  
“you sure will be pap” sans chuckles as the three of them disappear from the room.   
  


**Luminari POV** **  
**

After a long day of signing papers and answering phone calls, Luminari finally finished going through the stack of papers that was sitting on her desk at the start of the day. She rubbed her dry eyes as she spun around in her huge cushioned chair, like the ones you see generic villains sitting in. The back was tall and went past her head by a foot and she was taller than average, the leather was black but not too glossy and every corner of it was cushioned. This made working at her desk a bit more comfortable than sitting on a regular wooden chair signing papers. She also thought that a nice big chair would look cool to sit in, so she’ll give it that.

 

Luminari turned her chair to face the one-way mirror of a window behind her desk that overlooked a part of her city. The street lights glimmered as the smooth traffic of people returning home from work flowed like a gentle river. She could see people walking down the pedestrian pathway waving to each other as they pass. At the further part of the city, she could see the lights of the monster district. She rests her chin in her hand, softly drumming her fingers on her hard features as she leaned on the right armrest. It’s been two months since the monsters arrived, Luminari had made sure no one outside of her family went near the monster settlement during its construction and for the past few days, fearing that her enemies would try to hurt them.

 

“I’m going to have to make some rounds sooner or later to introduce them to the neighbourhood, or everybody is just going to live in suspicion and probably fear of them.... and that’s not good…” she sighs as a knock on the door interrupts her thoughts. She quickly straightens her back and calls for them to come in, with her back facing the entrance.

 

“M-miss Asterix?” a timid voice she recognised as the newbie’s called out from the door.

  
“How many times have I told you, Timmy? Miss Aster is just fine” Luminari smiles, leaning back into her chair. The shy ones are always comforting to talk to.

  
Another set of footstep enters the room. They sound, lighter than a normal human’s.  **“Well then Miss Aster, we might have a problem with the similarities of our name.”** an unfamiliar deep voice spoke

  
Luminari hesitated slightly before speaking, she could feel a certain energy in the air “Oh? I wasn’t expecting guests today. You may go now Timmy.” she dismissed the young man with a wave of her left hand, still facing the window. She cannot afford to turn around to face anyone, not without her mask.

  
“Y-Yes Miss Aster!” his footsteps hurried out of the room as a soft baritone chuckle could be heard from behind the closing door.

  
Luminari waits for the door to close shut before she spoke again. “So, dear guest, what brings you here to my humble abode?”

  
**“Well, I just wanted to meet the one who has helped us monsters and introduce myself, Don Asterix. The name’s W.D. Gaster, Gaster is just fine”** the voice started

  
“Ah, Mr Gaster, and I assume the other two are outside. Do forgive me for not greeting you properly, it seems that my mask is out of my reach and it would be a terrible idea to face you at the moment, I wasn’t expecting guests after all. Do you mind handing it to me? it should be on the second self on your right” she says, turning her head to the side so that her voice would be projected better. She stuck out her hand from the wall of a chair that was hiding the rest of her form.

  
She could hear her guest’s footsteps approaching the directed self  **“Might I ask, why you would need such a large mask?”** Gaster inquired picking up the mask with one a detached floating magic hand.

 

“Mask first, then questions Mr Gaster” Luminari sang wiggling her fingers, indicating that she was waiting.

  
Gaster chuckled, as he uses the hand to place the mask in her grasp, maintaining the distance between them.  **"May I ask now, Miss Aster?”**

  
Luminari took the mask and her hand disappeared behind the backrest of her chair as she puts on the half head mask, covering her pale features. “Well Gaster, how about we first invite Sans and Papyrus inside so that I can welcome you all properly?” Luminari stands up from her large armchair, stepping out of her comfort behind the desk and faces Gaster with her mask secured on, giving him a friendly smile.

  
Gaster chuckles and returns the smile “Boys, come in and greet the Don.” he calls out to the double doors.

  
A second later, the skeleton brothers enter the room, one shorter than her with a wide frame and the other a few inches taller than their father. Both of them look like they have a permanent grin on their face. Sams had told her told her about the brothers. The older, shorter one was Sans and the tall one was Papyrus. They walk towards Gaster and stood on each of his sides. 

  
Luminari had walked to the front of her desk and is now facing the monster trio, she gives all of them a warm smile. “Greetings skeletons, I am Luminari Asterisk, Don of the Asterisk family. Welcome to the neighbourhood."

 

“GREETINGS HUMAN ASTERIX, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. PLEASED TO BE OF YOUR ACQUAINTANCE, WE THANK YOU DEARLY FOR HELPING MONSTER KIND.” Papyrus stands tall, puffing out his chest as he held out his hand. 

  
Luminari takes his gloved hand and gives him a firm handshake. “The pleasure is all mine, Papyrus.” she says tilting her head to meet his eyes.

  
“NYEH HEH HEH! AND THIS IS MY BROTHER SANS.” he says gesturing to the shorter skeleton.

  
Sans takes a hand out from his pants pockets and extends it to her “hey there, nice to me cha’ Don” 

 

Luminari takes his hand and as she was about to complete the handshake, a loud farting sound erupted from in between them. Gaster looks at Sans with wide eyes as Papyrus begins to scold him. “SANS! THAT IS ABSOLUTELY INAPPROPRIATE IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN BOSS”

 

“oops, forgot to put that away.” Sans says giving everyone a relaxed wink. Luminari could see his boney eyelids close over his eye sockets. Soon after, she begins to chuckles and smiles back at him “The old whoopee cushion handshake trick, heh heh, I still remember when the younger ones came up to me with that for the first time.”

  
Sans looks at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes and smiles “it never fails to get anyone to laugh, and it's a great way to introduce yourself to new friends don’t you think?”

  
“I couldn’t agree more, Sans.” says and turns to Gaster. “It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Gaster, or shall i say, Don Aster? I apologise once again for not greeting you properly, I’m rather self-conscious of my scar.” Luminari explains holding out her hand as Gaster takes envelops it with his.

  
**“Please, Gaster is just fine, and I too would like to apologise for dropping by without an invitation or a notice. We didn’t intend to cause alarm buy visiting, the two of them were just excited to meet you. We just wanted to talk about the future of the monsters with the person responsible for helping us up til now.”** He says smiling.

 

“Of course, of course. Come, have a seat. I have some time.” Luminari guides them to the sofa set at the side and begins their long discussion.

 

* * *

 

(TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS)

 

**Sans POV**

Gaster and the Don spent the entire night talking about business as Sans and Papyrus sat by the side listening intently and sometimes inputting some suggestions. Sans watched as Don Asterix conversed with Papyrus with a kind smile, not minding his loud voice, usually humans would be taken aback by his brother’s volume but it did not faze her a bit. He watched how she spoke about monsters with kindness and respect, treating everyone like regular people without a sense of contemn or seeing any of them as an inferior species. 

 

It was all a bit to nice and good to be true, sans thought. Humans are naturally fearful and hateful being especially towards something that they don’t know of, but this particular human, this woman that has never met any of them before was welcoming them with open arms and a smile on her face.

  
Then there is her mask.

 

When Gaster asked about it she told them that she was hiding a scar, however, with the title of the Judge he knew that it was not the full truth. The material covered the entirety of her right half of her head, exposing only the left half. There’s a large eye hole that’s covered with a black glass lense where her eye should be, so it can be assumed that the right eye is still functioning. Another thing that he had noticed about the Don is that her entire right half was covered up. Her neck was hidden under a turtleneck collar, her right hand had a glove on it but not her left and she wore a tailored suit with long sleeves and pants that went past her ankles.

 

At first glance it would seem like she was a regular human that was modest in their attire and preferred to look more like a man since she was in the Mob business. But with all the clues that suggest something bigger, he knew that she was hiding something from them.

 

He watched as Luminari and Gaster ended their discussion and looked at the clock “Oh my, look at the time, it sure does fly when you have guest.” she says standing up.   
  
**“Oh, I apologise for keeping you, Miss Aster. We too must get going"** Gaster rises from the sofa and the brother follow.

  
  
“Oh no, it’s alright, Gaster. I’m glad we met this evening, and please, call me Luminari” Luminari smiled gently 

  
  
“IT WAS A PLEASURE MEETING YOU MISS DON ASTERIX!” Papyrus waved as they headed towards the double doors

  
  
“It was a pleasure meeting you too, Papyrus. Miss Asterix is fine instead of putting the don in between. Have a safe trip home, dear. I’ll have Jaws guide back.”

  
  
“see ya, miss asterix.” sans waved as he exited the room.

  
“Goodbye, Sans. Stay safe with your brother.” Luminari says as the door close behind him

  
Outside, a lanky green haired man leaning against a single crutch was waiting for them. “Hey there, the name’s Jaws. I'm here to get you back to your place.” the skeletons noticed that he was missing his left arm. “Come on, it's getting late” Jaws turns around and leads them through the large house.

  
As they walked through the house, Sans starts to take in the layout of the mansion. There were many rooms lining the corridors and the space was much larger than the house they had back at the monster district. The furnishing was simple, with no luxurious items hanging on the walls or ceiling, except the multiple intricately designed weapons that were kept in frames at intervals along the corridor. Papyrus talked to Jaws about the happenings around Ebott, complemented the decor every few minutes and waving at the other people they walked past. 

  
“hey, can i ask you a question?” sans speaks up as they were about to reach the exit. 

 

“What is it?” Jaws hobbles forward

 

“is the your don always that nice?"

  
  
“Yep, she’s the nicest Don around.” he answers smiling

 

“why?”

  
Jaws stops in his tracks, turning to face them.

 

"Boss doesn't like to be mean, she wants to see a smile on everybody's faces. She's nice to everyone because she cares, she cares about the hardships in this world and the fact that everybody has their own problems. She cares for us the most, since she saved everyone one of us from our lowest points in life, and we owe her our lives. Even though she has suffered more than all of us combined, she still takes care of the family with a smile on her face. So if you do anything to hurt her or take advantage of her kindness," Jaws' hand on his crutch twists the handle to the side and jerks it up and down, sounding unsettlingly like the cocking of a gun.

 

His eyes darkened as he started back at the skeletons "We will personally see that you will have a  **_bad time_ ** "

 

The air around them turns cold as the skeletons felt people staring at them from the shadows of the house. Gaster’s nonexistent eyebrows were raised as if to be amused and slightly taken aback by the weak looking green haired human while Sans’ eye light was glowing with magic as if to ready for an attack.

 

_ “how dare he threaten pap.”  _ sans thought.

  
But before anyone could do anything, Jaws clapped his hands together and gave them a shark-toothed smile, dispelling the cold air “But boss Lumi like you and it would make her sad if we did anything to hurt you all.”

  
“BUT-BUT WE WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING TO HURT MISS ASTERIX!” Papyrus exclaims.

  
“I know, Papyrus, but other people have. And none of us want to see her hurt again.” Jaws replies wistfully.

  
As they reach the door, Jaws turns back to them, “I apologise for my outbreak earlier, it’s not how I usually am. We have a driver waiting for you outside, it would be faster than walking back.” 

  
**“Apology accepted Jaws, you were just worried about your family head. We don’t have a need for the driver, we can take a shortcut”** Gaster explains.

  
“Oh er, okay. Good night then, Don gaster, Papyrus, Sans.” with that Jaws hobbles back towards the rest of the mansion.   
  


* * *

  
Back at the Monster district, the skeletons reappear in their house’s office. Sans wishes Papyrus goodnight as he gets ready to go to bed as Gaster and him remain in the office. The room was relatively dark, only lit by the moon’s beam that entered the window and the air around them was peaceful. The two skeletons stood facing each other collecting their thoughts of the night.

  
**“So, what do you make of Don Asterix, son?”** Gaster asks him, breaking the silence.

  
“she’s hiding many things, i just can’t figure out what.” sans replies. 

  
**“Then I’ll give you a job to do, find out as much as possible about her until you know what she’s hiding. We are starting visits around her area tomorrow, ask around the people close to her and see if you get anything. If you can find out what she is hiding, we can find out what she wants. We can’t take any chances of endangering everyone.”**


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luminari give the skeletons a small tour around town, they have some bread and check out Grillby's new place.

The sunlight filters through the blinds of Luminari’s room as she buttons up her shirt. She was going to accompany the skeletons and give them a tour around the territory, as well as introducing the people to the existence of monsters. She has high hopes for their integration into their community. Luminari smiles as she puts on her blazer, humming a light-hearted jazzy tune.

 

They Asterix territory was one of the poorest areas of the city before Luminari took charge of the streets, many people were homeless and there were beggars at every corner you turned. But things started to change as she helped people off the streets and provided them with shelter and a job. Everyone had their small part to play in the community, and soon their little jobs became their livelihood and they were able to afford a better life. There was almost close to no discrimination in the community. Someone that has seen what the worst part of their life was and how they become the person they are today is the most humble and understanding person. They knew what it was like to be looked down upon and to be part of the society no one wants to do anything with. Luminari knew the monsters would be safe here, without the hate of the people despite their differences. But she could only see how today goes. She takes puts on her mask and glove and steps out of the mansion, beginning her walk to the monster district.

 

  
(Time skip by “Coming from the bottom but now we’re at the top!”)

 

Luminari arrives at the entrance of the monster district where an arc with the royal family’s crest marked the start of the monster’s territory. The royal family had named the area “New Home” after their shift from the monster capital to the surface. Gaster and the brothers were waiting under the arc in matching suits, the three of them had similarly designed suits but the blazers and the pants had different tints of colour. Gaster’s had a dark purple undertone, Sans’ was navy blue while Papyrus’ was a warm brown. Looking at them in the daylight made the different colours of their suits looked more obvious,  _ “Makes them look like an actual family _ .” Luminari thought to herself. 

  
“GOOD MORNING MS ASTERIX!” Papyrus waves to her as she approaches them.

  
“Good morning, Papyrus. I see that I have made the three of you wait for me.” Luminari smiles apologetically.

  
**“Oh no, we’ve just arrived a few minutes earlier than the agreed meeting time.”** Gaster says.  **“Shall we?”**

 

The four of them made their way towards the rest of the area as the shops around them started to open. “Now that we meet in the day, I can actually see your suits properly.” Luminari starts with a bit of small talk as they walk down the street.

  
“YES! MUFFET MADE THEM FOR US SO THAT WE WOULD LOOK LIKE THE OTHER HUMANS. DO YOU LIKE THEM?” Papyrus pats his chest, admiring his suit.

  
“Indeed Papyrus, they look marvelous. You could say that it  _ suits _ the three of you.” Luminari chuckles

 

Sans’ eyes widen as he immediately picked up the pun “heh heh yeah, muffet sure doesn’t put her skills to  _ waistcoat. _ ”

  
“NOOO! WE WERE SUPPOSE TO HAVE A NICE TOUR WITH THE HUMAN WITHOUT ANY PUNNING SANS!” Papyrus exclaims covering his face in defeat.

 

“hey, she started it.” sans shrugs

  
“Sorry Papyrus, I just wanted to  _ cuff _ up something humorous to start our morning.” Luminari laughs even more at her joke.

 

“NOOOO NOT MISS ASTERIX TOO!” 

  
At that, Gasters starts to join in the small circle of laughter, chuckling softly to himself at his younger son’s exaggerated suffering. The four of them continue walking down the pathway feeling a little happier.

  
As they make their way through the streets, Luminari points to the different shops and tells the skeletons a little something about them. “Ah, that’s Tonio’s restaurant. Tonio came from Italy to marry his wife and settle down here, he makes the best spaghetti bolognese. I should bring you there one day.”

  
“IS THAT SO? THEN I MUST TRY THIS SPAGHETTI AND SEE IF IT CAN COMPARE TO MY GREAT SPAGHETTI!” Papyrus beams and strikes a pose, it almost looks as if his blazer was flying in the non-existent wind. 

  
“Of course, it's a promise then.” Luminari smiles and continues on their path.

 

As the four made their way along the different shops, an old stout man in an apron calls out to Luminari and waves at them. “Miss Luminari! Good morning!” his wrinkled eyes close as he gives the group a big toothy smile.

 

  
**Gaster POV**

**  
** “Mr Bentley, good morning to you too!” Luminari waves back at the old man

  
She walks towards him briskly and the other three follow behind.  **_“She must be well acquainted with that man.”_ ** Gaster thought as they approach their guide. She turns to them and gestures to the man “This is Mr Bentley Yondson, he’s one of the best bakers I know in the city, makes the fluffiest bread. Mr Bentley, meet Gaster Aster, the new Don of the monster family. The other two are Sans and Papyrus. They’re new to the neighbourhood so I thought I ought to show them around.”

 

“GREETINGS HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.” Papyrus sticks out his hand towards the evidently smaller man.

  
Gaster gives Sans a look of uncertainty as they observe their interaction. The man’s eyes widened when Papyrus spoke and he had to slightly crane his neck to look at Papyrus. But not a second later, a smile returns to his face and he gives Papyrus a firm handshake. “Good to meet you Papyrus! It’s always nice to see new faces around here.” 

  
He then turns to Gaster and Sans“Good to me you too Don Aster, Mr Sans, welcome to the neighbourhood. How about I treat you folks some of my famous bread?” 

  
“Is that really okay, Mr Bentley? I don’t mean to impose on you.”

  
“It’s fine, Miss Luminari! I just made a fresh batch, straight out of the oven. That’s the best time to eat it!” he says disappearing into the bakery and reappears with four paper bags.

 

**“Thank you for the bread, Mr Yondson”** Gaster says as he takes a bag. The contents were warm just as he said. “ **_The human didn’t seem intimidated by any of us and even gave us something he was supposed to sell for free. They’re either internalising their fear or genuinely nice to others, much like Luminari…_ ** ” Gaster thought.

 

“Your welcome, Don Aster. Have fun looking around the place.” Mr Bentley waved to them as they carried on their walk.

 

Gaster takes opens his bag and was greeted by the sweet aroma of the bun. He reaches in and takes the bun out, his fingers sinking into the bread. He looks at the shiny surface of the bun before taking a bite out of it. An explosion of warm flavours greeted him as his eyes widen.

  
“It’s good, right? The bun.” Luminari asks him.

 

**“It’s, much better than I had expected. The mild sweetness is very pleasant. It’s different from the pastries that I usually eat but it has its own charm to it.”** Gaster answers looking at the half-eaten bun.

  
“Well, I’m glad you like it.” she gives him a smile, almost sweeter than the bun he just tasted.

  
As they continued down the streets and greet more shopkeepers, Gaster started to feel more welcome by the humans. They had greeted the monsters with a smile and while some were hesitant to shake their hand, they were still treated with respect. Gaster looked back to the time they first emerged from the mountain and various humans greeted them. They all had the similar look of fear and disgust in their eyes when they were around the monsters. But seeing the humans treating them so kindly made him think about how he might be wrong about Luminari...   
****

 

**Sans POV**

After the bakery, the group made their way through more food shops where the shopkeepers greeted them with a smile. A thought comes to Sans’ mind to pay a certain fire elemental a visit since.

 

“say one of our friends opened a bar around here, could we take a look at the place?” Sans asks.

 

“Friend? Oh, do you mean Grillby? Of course we can go there. I think today is his opening day, The bar should be just around the corner.” Luminari says as she leads them towards the bar

 

When they were settling the plans for the monster district, Grillby had brought up that he wished to have a bar on the surface. One of the representatives, think her name was Jaz, came back to them regarding the bar and told them that they had a space for Grillby within the area but it was located outside the main monster district. He had no objections and started preparations a month after. Sans though about how Grillby might be exposed to certain dangers since he was located away from the monster district, but the fire element was a war veteran and had the capability to take care of himself.

 

Grillby had been excited about his new bar, he talked about how the space was bigger and the previous owner kept the furniture that was still in good condition. He also mentioned the stage next to the bar and how the dogs could perform as a jazz band during the night. Sans continued to daydream about his new regular spot to lounge in the city, listening to the band play as he drank bottles of ketchup.

  
“We’re here.”Luminari says. Sans snapped back to reality and looked around. The building around him had windows similar to the old Grillby's underground, it had a close sign displayed at the center and a wooden door at the side for an entrance. Above was a sign that spelled out Grillby’s with a LED light similar to the one that was above the broken jukebox.

  
Luminari knocks on the door and enters. “Grillby, are you in here?” she calls out as she walks further into the bar.

  
Sans looked around the place and it was indeed bigger than the old Grillby’s. The bar was in front of the entrance, against the wall and overlooking the rest of the place. It was longer than the old bar and it had more seats. At the center of the room was an arrangement of several round wooden tables and against the right wall were the cushioned booths. Sans moved to the bar and sat at the center most stool, dubbing it his place and leaned against the bar looking over the rest of the place. 

  
“Grillby?” Luminari called out again

  
“At the back!” a familiar voice replied from behind the door next to the bar. A moment later, the door opens and the fire elemental steps out and notices the group. “Oh hello Miss Luminari, Gaster, Papyrus, Sans, I wasn’t expecting guests so early. What brings you here?” Grillby asks

 

“we just wanted to check out the new place grillz, you did up the place pretty nicely.” Sans replies. 

  
**“Indeed old friend, it almost looks just as good as the one underground.”** Gaster added.

  
“It wasn’t much, the previous owner had everything at the side, I just cleaned the place up and rearranged the tables. It took a while getting everything in place but I managed” Grillby’s voice crackles like a burning firewood as he speaks.

  
“the space is pretty big ay grillz, you sure you can manage on your own?” Sans asks

  
“I’m not sure, having an extra pair of hands would help a lot but i never managed to find anyone to help with the bar, Fuku wants to focus on her studies and I don’t want to force the responsibility onto anyone.” Grillby says furrowing his brows

 

They stand around in silence thinking when suddenly Luminari speaks up. “I just might know someone that would be more than happy to help. She comes in a package though.”

  
“What do you mean by package, Miss Luminari?” Grillby asks

  
“She worked with the previous owner as a waitress and a performer. She loved to sing at this bar and when she isn’t on stage she taking orders and helping the previous owner. Singing always came first, so if you're going to have her, the stage is hers as well. I don’t think she’s found any other job and will probably jump right on board.” Luminari says.

  
“Sounds good, will she be able to come down this evening?” Grillby immediately answers.

  
“I can ask her right now.” Luminari walks over to the phone on the wall and starts dialing

  
Sans watches her lean against the wall and started talking after a few seconds. “Hey Ver, it’s Luminari. I got a job for you that you’ll be interested in. No not that. You remember  _ The Table in the Corner _ ? I got someone to take it over and he needs help.” Suddenly she holds the receiver away from her ear and an incomparable high pitch screaming could be heard from the other line. 

 

She puts the receiver to her ear again “Yeah, it’s his bar now. It’s called Grillby’s and tonight’s the opening. Yup. Yup, I told him. Uh, just a sec. Grillby, what time do you need her to come and is there a certain attire you need her to be in?” Luminari turns to the fire elemental

  
“She can come down at 5 and her usual work attire should be alright I guess.” Grillby answers.

  
“Alright, he says to come by 5 and wear your usual work attire… I guess you can change into that if you want to. Sure, I’ll be there. Kay, see you tonight, bye.” Luminari hangs up with a click and turns to them “You got yourself a singing waitress.”

  
“Thank you, Miss Luminari.” Grillby sighs in relief.

  
“Oh um, I did say that she could perform tonight. So if you have a band in mind to play that would be great.” 

  
“Of course, they’ll be here a bit later. I’ll look forward to her performance.” Grillby says

  
Sans watches the exchange in silence. He might be able to get some information about Luminari if he befriend the waitress, they do seem closer to each other compared with the other shop keepers they met just now. It’s going to be an interesting evening for him.

  
“Alright, see you Grillby, I’ll be here later.” Luminari says as they leave.

  
“Goodbye, and thank you again Miss Luminari.” Grillby waves to them.

 

Luminari then brings the group to a small diner for lunch and to talk about business. She brings out a map and a marker and draws lines all over it, circling various areas. “So, this part of the city that we are in now is the Asterix’s territory.” she points to the large area with a star in the center. “And this is where the monsters are located.” she points to a small area in the Asterix’s circle. 

 

“Technically, your family has not been recognised by the other Dons and is not official yet, but the monster population is still under my protection, this is important as even though it has only been two months since the monsters have come to the surface, there are already family heads and people that despise you and want to hurt you. Some of my children have even reported a few anti-monster groups outside the territory. Such areas belong to the Dons that I don’t get along with such as Galassion.” Luminari taps on the area marked with a crossed out G.

  
“He sells weapons and drugs and his family is the least pleasant group that I’ve met, avoid him at all cost and never set foot into his area cause I cannot protect anyone there. The other families are relatively okay with the monsters as long as they can confirm that you won’t be a threat to them. I have mutual allies with the Lagusa and the Vanero families so I’m certain that they would not cause any trouble for you.” She points to the two circled area around the Asterix zone and next to the monster area. 

  
“There will be a meeting held in the Lagusa’s territory a few days from now that is mandatory for all family heads. We hold this meeting once every few months to discuss business and territories as well as to settle any conflicts or be aware of anything among the heads. You are expected to join us if you w ant to make your family official, Gaster.” Luminari looks up at him.

  
**“I’ll be there. Is there anything I need to know before the meeting?”** Gaster asks

  
“Mmm, not much. I will introduce you to the rest of the heads and you can briefly state the reason for your family, don’t give them too much information or they might use it against you. The heads will typically agree on the formation and we are set. If there are any problems caused by the heads, you can leave it to me. Oh yes, you can bring along one person to accompany you as a guard. They will stand behind you as the meeting happens. I typically bring either Sams or Jaws with me as they do most of the work around and we can get a lot of information out of a meeting.” Luminari adds

  
**“Thank you, I’ll think about it.”** Gaster nods.

  
“Your welcome, I hope our families are able to work together to build a better future for both monster and humankind.” Luminari smiles.

  
After lunch at the diner, Luminari leads them back to the monster district and leaves them to get back to finish work. “I’ll be at Grillby’s tonight, so if you have any other questions you can ask me there.”

  
“THANK YOU FOR THE TOUR MISS LUMINARI, DO THANK THE BAKER HUMAN FOR THE DELICIOUS BREAD!” Papyrus waves.

  
“Of course, Papyrus. Goodbye now.” Luminari says and walks off  
  


* * *

  
The skeletons make their way back to the house. Gaster turns to Sans  **“I’m assuming you will be there tonight.”**

**  
** “if you mean grillbyz then yes, i will. i’ll try to talk to her and the new waitress to see what i can find out.” Sans answers.

  
**“Good… don’t come back too late.”** Gaster says as he walks to the office

  
“Sure thing G.” Sans returns to his room for a short nap.

  
Sans sighs as the door closes and he proceeds to remove his blazer. Might as well take a quick nap before tonight. This “Ver” Luminari was talking to, she might give him some answers about the mysterious Don...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha! Next chapter we'll meet the one and only Singer!
> 
> See if you can spot some references in this chapter.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mrow"
> 
> "You got that right, kitty. Now its our time to shine!"

 

Verona felt a consistent pat on her head as she was awoken by a loud meow. She cracked open her eyelids to face the furry alarm clock, raising a hand to scratch him behind the ear. “Mornin’ you lil rascal.”  The cat placed a paw on her nose and meowed again. 

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll give you food.” Verona yawned as she sat up stretching. The cat jumped down from her bed and made its way to the bedroom door, looking back at her “Mrow.”   
  
“Coming…” she rubbed her eyes as she shuffled her feet out of the room.   
  
Verona took out a can of cat food and scraped it into the feeding bowl, adding in some dry bits for an extra crunch, kitty’s favourite. “You’re breakfast, sire.” she says taking a dramatic bow towards the waiting cat.   
  


“Mrow” he says moving to eat the supposedly delicious concoction of cat food.   
  
As he dug into his food bowl, Verona prepared some food for herself. It has been around two months since  _ The Table at the Corner _ closed down, and around two months since the monsters came out from Mount Ebott. Verona has been going around the town looking for a job, a place where she could sing and enjoy the presence of people like a bar, but to no avail. The Asterix territory was big, one of the biggest territories the city, but it had so little bars. The other establishments were smaller than  _ The Table at the Corner  _ and already had their regular performers every night, as well as a good number of waitresses and waiters. Back at her previous job, Verona was one of the few employees that worked at the bar  _ and  _ was the all time favourite entertainer of the joint. Life couldn’t have been better.

 

Verona let out another sigh as she leaned against the kitchen counter, waiting for her coffee to brew. She had to find a new job and soon. For the past months, she had been using the money that she had saved up from her job as well as her latest pay to pay for her rent and groceries. Sometimes she would go to the parks and busk for a few hours, singing her favourite songs. It gave her the same happy feeling when she sang for other people but it obviously did not pay as much as a proper job, it did get her some pocket money to help her survive the month.

 

Verona cracked a couple of eggs into the frying pan and looked at the clock hanging on the fridge. It was 10, a bit earlier than she would usually wake up as she was used to working night shifts. She stares at the slowly cooking eggs and a memory of the old bartender making her sunny side ups at 12 midnight. She chuckles at the memory, but was washed over with sadness. She misses the bar. She missed staying up with the old man to help clean up the place. She missed greeting the regular customers by name when they walked in. She missed jumping off the stage with her mic and danced in front of the patrons as they clapped with the beat. She missed, she missed the smiles of people when she performed, with the band playing behind her as she sang her heart out. It was only at  _ The Table at the Corner _ where she could experience this joy of performing in front of people while getting paid well for it. 

 

She slid her eggs onto her toast and brings the plate to the table.  _ “Man, I’m really sad today. Probably go to the park later to sing me sorrows away…” _ she thought as she took a bite out of her egg toast. A fuzzy body pressed against her legs purring. “Kitty, I’m not giving you anymore food.”   
  
“Mrow” the cat jumps onto the seat next to hers, staring at the plate.   
  
“You greedy lil shit, I just started on my breakfast, you had yours. Anymore a day and you’ll be at fat as Mrs Jason’s cat. You don’t want to be a ball of fat do you now?” Verona says continuing to eat her toast.   
  
She never named the furry roommate. Ever since she found him in the alley, shivering in between the gaps of the garbage bins with a body of matted fur, she just called the cat “kitty” if she were to refer to the feline. Why was she in the alley you may ask? Well, Verona would call herself a claustrophilic. Small areas such as small rooms and alleys were a comfortable place for her, especially when she was stress and felt that she needed a safe space to collect her thoughts. That night, well, life didn’t really go down the road of happy thoughts. It pretty much skidded off course, bounced down the hill, and belly flopped into the valley of “nope”. 

 

She was a mess by the end of the day and sat leaning against the alley wall trying her best not to cry. Then as she was trying to pull herself together, a soft mew found its way into her ears. It was enough to distract her from her thoughts and Verona focused on hunting for the sad sounding source. And then she saw him, no bigger than her hand curled up into a ball, making himself look as small as possible in between the garbage bins. 

 

Verona almost saw herself in the feline’s eyes. She was once like him, shivering on the streets, no home, no hope, softly crying for help. Until a fellow saviour held out her hand.  _ “No one deserves to be on the streets, not on my watch.”  _ She said with a smile. She looked back at her past self, and a sense of determination to help the small feline weld up in her. She never felt determined in her life, just motivated. So she picked up the ball of matted mess and mothered him back to health. 

 

The cat didn’t exactly understand her intentions at first, and put up a fight whenever she was trying to care of him. If feeding him was as hard as trying to roll a huge medicine ball up a slope, single handedly nursing him to health was like trying to drill a hole in a concrete wall by punching it, you’re determined not to give up but that determination is making you frustrated and it hurts to see you try at every attempt. But as time passed, the cat finally relented and allowed himself to rely on the human.

 

“Mrow” the feline whines as it puts its front paws on Verona’s lap, trying to reach the toast in her hand

 

Verona leaned away from the persisting cat, crunching on the rest of the toast, determined to finish it before the feline got any closer. However, as she was going to take the last few bites of her breakfast, the cat launched itself into her hand. Verona shrieked, dropping the toast as the calico grabs it with its mouth.   
  
“Why you little, you better make me another toast or I’m going to skin you and make you into a fur scarf!” she yells jumping out of her seat and chases after the cat.

 

Just she was about to vault over her sofa, the telephone rings.  _ “Who the hell is calling me in the morning? I’m trying to catch my toast thief for crying out loud.” _ Verona thought as she walked over to pick up the phone.   
  
“Y’ello?” She says

 

“Hey Ver, it’s Luminari. I got a job for you that you’ll be interested in.” a friendly voice answers.

 

_ “Hey its Lumi” _ she lit up. The big boss of basically the largest territory and her best friend had helped her whenever she could to find a job for her, but the majority of the options never felt right to Verona.   
  
“It better not be singing live at the radio station, you know how much I dislike that place, it smells funny.” She huffs   
  
“No not that. You remember  _ The Table in the Corner _ ? I got someone to take it over and he needs help.”

 

“What?” Verona screams “We’ve been searching for someone for months when it was open and now you tell me that someone took over the bar? I’m either really mad at this person for not turning up sooner or hella happy that its back! What the fuck!? Well I guess it’s back in business again and I guess I’m glad about that? But still, what the actual shit?” she yells, her voice getting progressively higher as she blurts out her thoughts. Her sudden outburst actually made the cat jump from his hiding place, that gave a loud thud from under the coffee table.

 

Verona took a deep breath to calm her nerves and continues. “So what happened to the place now? Is it their bar now?”

  
“Yeah, it’s his bar now. It’s called Grillby’s and tonight’s the opening.” Luminari answers after a pause, almost like she was holding the receiver away from her ear and just put it back.

 

“And I’m guessing he’s looking for a waitress for the place.”

  
“Yup”

 

“Did you tell him that about me performing and not doing just waitress stuff?” Verona questions her, squinting as she thought about the offer

  
“Yup, I told him.”

 

“Alright, I’m down. What time do I have to be there and does Mr New Bar Owner have a dress code?”

 

“Uh, just a sec. Grillby, what time do you need her to come and is there a certain attire you need her to be in?” Luminari’s voice sounded distant as she turned away from the speaker.

  
“Alright, he says to come by 5 and wear your usual work attire.” she returns to the phone

  
“Kay, so the regular white top and black apron it is. But for stage time, hmmm. Should I dance in the uniform or change into my nice red dress?”

 

“I guess you can change into that if you want to.”

 

“Kay then, I’ll bring it along. Will you be there tonight? Actually, promise me that you’ll be there. At least want to see one familiar face and we haven’t talked in a while, Lumi.” 

 

“Sure, I’ll be there.”

 

“Alright, see you Lumi.”

 

“Kay, see you tonight, bye.” and with that the call ended with a click from the other line.

  
Verona placed the phone back down onto the housing and stood there for a minute. She felt a laugh bubbling inside of her.  _ “I’m going back!”  _ she begins to laugh. “I’m back in the game, baby!” she woots, scaring the cat for the second time of the morning. He meows at her in annoyance after bumping his head against the bottom of the chair.

 

“Ha Ha HAaaaH! You’re the best Lumi.” she throws her fist up in the air and runs to her room. She skids to a stop in front of her closet and throws it open, yanking out her waitressing combination of clothes and throws it onto the bed. She then slowly takes out a knee length red dress by the hanger. The last time she wore the dress was at her last performance 2 months ago, not a very long time if you think about it but it felt like forever to her. She smiles as she hangs it against the back of her room door to remind herself to bring it.

 

She looked back at the kitchen clock from her room entrance, it was only 10:35. Only 35 minutes have passed since her day had started and she was already restless for the evening to come. 7 hours and 25 minutes was too long of a wait and the longer she thought about the time the slower time passed, it was a terrible feeling. 

 

So she made a decision, well more of a plan to make use of the time she had. For the next few hours, she would practice the songs that she was going to sing and warm her voice up, but not too much to strain her voice, so she needed to rest between songs. That itself is an excellent plan to spend her hours away.

 

* * *

  
  
(Time skip by the bump on kitty’s head)

 

1:45. After all that singing only a few hours had passed. She had sung every song, practiced her dance moves and lazed around for as much as she needed but time wasn’t moving as fast as she thought. Her stomach growled as she lay on the sofa. All that activity made her crave some delicious food to calm her nerves and heck, maybe she could spend some time at lunch. Tonio’s sounded like a good idea and they served her favourite chrysanthemum tea the entire day, just the thing to soothe her throat. So Verona put her white button and black skirt on, packed the dress and apron into her bag and headed out for lunch after pouring the cat’s lunch portion and set aside his dinner bowl.   
  
“Bye, Kitty! I’ll be home late so don’t eat everything at once you fat fuck!” she called out endearingly to wherever he was hiding again.

 

“Mrow” the cat replied, the sound coming from under the sofa. With that, she locked the door to her home and made her way to Tonio’s

 

* * *

 

 

(Time skip brought to you by a broke entertainer)

 

3:00. Verona sat at Tonio’s swirling her cup of tea, resting her chin in her hand as she stared up at the wall clock. “Everything alright Verona?” she tilted her head to face the owner of the voice, it was Tonio with his hands on his hips. The older man looked down at her with a quirked eyebrow, a hint of concern in his eyes. 

 

“Everything's good Toni-Old-Man.” Verona sighed stretching her back. “I’m just wishing time would pass faster.”   
  
“Waiting for something?” He asked   
  
Verona grinned “I got my job back.”

 

“Job? As in singing and waitressing at a bar?”   
  
“Not just any bar.  _ The Table at the Corner _ is under new management and now its called  _ Grillby’s _ . They needed someone to help with the place and good ol’ Lumi referred me to them. So I’m gonna be back on stage tonight, my beloved shiny rosewood stage.” Verona’s smile grew even bigger the more she thought about it.

 

“The owner told me to come at 5 but that’s 2 hours too long” she whined.

 

“ _ The Table at the Corner _ ? I think I saw a fire monster hanging around that joint, a while back.”   
  
“A fire monster? You sure it was a monster that you saw and not some elaborate Halloween costume?” Verona questioned   
  
“Well it  _ better be _ a fire monster. Their body was practically up in flames, but his clothes weren’t. He was carrying some crates into the place in the wee hours of the morning when I was coming here to open shop. His was burning quite brightly too, given that the sun hasn’t come up yet.” Tonio added

 

Verona thought about this new information. If the new owner was a monster then that would explain why they didn’t show up until today, and it looks like he had been busy bringing things into and possibly preparing the bar. She’d never seen a monster, just heard of them from people that saw them when they walked passed the monster area. Verona knew that the monsters were advised to stay within the area for some time when they just moved in but she guessed that Luminari had started opening up the rest of the territory to them.

 

It’d be pretty cool if her new boss was a monster, she could get to know more people as new customers come into the bar. “Maybe you can check the place out from the outside to see how its changed and maybe catch a glimpse of your new boss.” Tonio’s voice broke her train of thought as he suggested to her.

 

“You know what, I’ll do just that. Thanks for the food and tea Tonio, and say hello to the misses for me!” Verona called out after leaving the bill on the table.

 

“Be nice to the guy alright? I’m sure he did his best to doll up the place.” Tonio waved to her.

 

Verona made her way through the familiar back streets, twisting and turning at every corner. Spending time in the alleys and using them as her main paths through the city allowed her to get to memorise the entire layout of the small paths and made traveling to places a lot quicker. After a few more turns, she arrived at the back of the familiar establishment. The alley had been cleaned up pretty well with no little lying around the garbage bin no permeating stench of garbage. She could see some crates stacked up next to the garbage bin, some of them had “Alcohol” as a label.  _ “He must have been moving his stashes into the bar” _ Verona thought.

 

As she walked towards the main street, she could see the front of the establishment a lot better. The old sign was replaced with a new one with  _ Grillby’s _ spelled out with LED light and a little cocktail sitting on the extended tail of the “y”. The windows that looked into the bar was cleaned and polished until you could see your own reflection in it. At the center was a flippable sign that said “Closed”. Looking into the darkness of the joint, she could see the that the interior was rearranged a bit. The tables in the center were more spread out and the so called dance floor was gone  _ “Might need to talk to the guy about that.” _

 

Inside she could see a clock hanging from above the bar, the time read 3:20. A few more hours to 5 but she was already here, itching to go in to meet her new boss, maybe talk to him and help him out abit. Verona paced back and forth the front deliberating whether to walk in or not. “Fuck it.” finally she relented and opened the door to the establishment.

 

The familiar sound of the bell ringing echoed through the dark and empty looking place as it announced her arrival. “Hello? Is anybody here? Mr Grillby?” she called out, remembering the name of the manager. She closed the door and walked into the joint, bathing in the feeling of nostalgia as she looked around. The shelves behind the bar had been stocked with colourful bottles of what she could only assume was various types of liquor. She recognised some brands but the more vibrantly coloured ones and even some glass bottles of glowing liquid were foreign to her.

 

Verona hopped onto her usually bar stool and placed her bag onto the bar top, turning to face the rest of the interior. Maybe the space on the stage was enough space for her to dance on, but one of the elements of the place that she and the customers enjoyed the most was that they could dance freely as they felt the music around them. “I might want the dance floor after all…” she thought. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard approaching from the door leading into the store room. The door opened and the space was immediately bathed in a soft blue glow as a flaming figure stepped out.   
  
Verona’s eyes widened as she saw the fire elemental. He had a muscular build that filled out his bartending uniform that was complemented with suspenders and a red tie. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows exposing his softly flickering forearms. Her eyes traveled to take in the features of his face. His head was a like a matchstick with a jawline where he had the flickering top of flame for hair. The fire elemental wore rectangular rimmed glasses and behind them were slits of white light which she could only assume were his eyes. A dark line can be seen that cut through his right eye with what looks like stitch scars along the bigger scar, giving him a slight edge to his appearance. Overall, he was  _ smoking hot _ .

 

“Woah, aren’t you hot for a matchstick” Verona spoke without thinking. The cheeks of the fire elemental immediately turned a darker shade of blue as he stuttered in response to her unexpected comment “W-what?”

 

Verona realising what she had just said blushed as well “Ah shit. I mean, um. Hi, I’m Verona. My friend called me earlier saying that you were looking for someone to help you around. You must me Grillby, the new owner of the place” she said holding out her hand but retracts it hesitantly “Oh um, is it okay to shake your hand? Since you’re made out of fire and all.” she asks. The fire elemental regains his composure nods “Its not real fire but magic, so its safe for humans”

 

She smiles and shakes his hand “Well it’s nice to finally meet you, Mr Grillby. Sorry about just now, I wasn’t really thinking. I was also a bit excited and kinda came earlier than expected...” she rubs her neck with her other hand

 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Verona and Grillby is just fine. I was hoping I could talk to you for a while before I opened.” Grillby says

 

“Oh, of course, I have a few things myself.” 

 

The two sit at a table to get the admin stuff in order, such as Verona’s pay, her shifts as well as going through some regulations about the establishment with Verona. After that was done, Grillby asked about how the previous bar was run and if the current layout could use some improvements, knowing that she was a waitress with the previous owner. Verona lit up at the question. “How you run the place is your choice, a bar is special to the person tending to it and you are the new owner so don’t let the past influence you. If you have any questions about the place or the human customers feel free to ask.” She smiles   
  
“The arrangement however,” Verona said standing from her seat. “We had a space in front of the stage that we designated to be the dance floor. People are free to come here and dance with the music and sometimes I’ll join them mid performance. It really brings life to the place especially when you have a whole group just enjoying themselves.”

 

Grillby nodded. “I thought it was weird that there were so little tables and chairs to fill the area, moving it aside would be a good idea. Could you help me with the arrangement?” he asked, grabbing a side of the table.

 

“Oh sure!” Verona jogs over to the other side of the table and together they begin to move the furniture around with her guidance.

 

* * *

 

(Time skip by a Grillby’s and its flaming bartender <3)

 

“There.” Verona sighs, putting down the last table. She surveys the new layout of the table and smiles. They had moved the tables towards the front of the joint, near the windows and towards the sides of the booth. The open space in front of the stage was enough for a group of 20 people to dance comfortably. She walks to the centre of the dance floor to give it a test spin, and gives Grillby as thumbs up. The fire elemental smile back at her from his spot and walks to the back of the bar to get both of them a drink. They had been moving the tables for quite a while and had to rearrange them to fit the layout of the bar and made sure the furniture were not out of place.

 

She glanced up at the clock, 5:00, the time of her reporting had finally come. She chuckles to herself as she takes the glass from Grillby. “What is it?” he asks

 

“I was supposed to report now.” she says swirling the contents of the glass. The liquid had a bright blue colour to it and the transparency of water, she could also see some swirling mists within the drink as it shimmered in the dim light. “What’s this drink?” Verona inquires holding it up.   
  
“Echo flower wine. It’s a mild monster alcohol made with Echo flowers that grows underground.” he answers

 

“Cool. How is monster alcohol different from regular human alcohol?”   
  
“Well, monster alcohol is infused with magic, some drinks can be stronger than human alcohol without the harmful side effects. With the whole magic element in it, some drinks can even have physical side effects like making someone glow. But most importantly, it is impossible for a human to get a hangover from monster alcohol.”   
  
Verona’s eyes widened “You mean, I can empty out your entire stash in one night, and feel fine in the morning?”

 

“Provided that you don’t pass out first, then yes. Though I highly advise against it.” Grillby says crossing his arms.

 

“Monster alcohol is the best! A toast to our opening night and for the future of this blessed alcohol!.” she exclaims raising her glass.

 

Grillby laughs at her excitement. “Cheers.” 

 

They both down their drinks and Verona felt the flavours of the drink hit her. It wasn’t bitter like the alcohol she was used to but had a sweet and citrusy taste to it like a lemonade mixed with some soda without the fizz and wine and a little sprinkle of surprise magic into it. When she swallowed it she felt a tingle of energy flow through her as it woke her senses. 

 

“This might just be my new favourite drink Grillby.” She looked at the rest of the contents.

 

Just then, the doorbell chimes and a group of well dressed dogs arrived with large cases that contained musical instruments behind them. “Look’s like your band is here.” Grillby says going over to welcome them in.

  
_ “Today is just full of surprises.”  _ Verona thinks to herself as she hops off the bar stool to join Grillby at the entrance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey there! My school break has started so I will try to upload them chapters more frequently! Things are just about to get interesting~
> 
> I just created a tumblr for my art stuff (woo finally a art tumblr to post shit) so there's not much on it now but I will slowly be uploading some stuff i have been working on especially the ones related to this fic like OC designs so do follow me to check them out in the future! 
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/komaxkoma


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “you were right, the doll’s got one hell of a voice.”
> 
> “Enough to make the Judge blush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi de hi he ho ya'll! Here's a full chapter on the Singer. Happy halloween!!

 

The alarm clock on San’s bed side table starts ringing as Sans jolts awake. He groans as he turns to smack the alarm clock’s snooze button. Sans flops back onto his bed, yawning and rubbing his closed eye sockets awake. The sun sunset shone through the blinds of his window, casting yellow-orange streaks of light across his room.  _ “grillby’s would have been open by now”  _ he thought, sliding out of the comfort of his bed.

 

It’s been a while since he’d tasted the fire elemental’s food, the past few months he had been busy with the construction of the district, and when it was done he was moving his alcohol stash to the shop in the early hours of the morning so that he wasn’t spotted by any humans and the past week he’d been cleaning up the place. But he wasn’t going to  _ Grillby’s _ just for dinner, no, he had a mission to do. 

 

Gaster and him suspicious about the one named Luminari Asterix, despite all the help she provided them with. When the first met the woman, Sans tried to look at her soul with is “Judge” ability when she was talking to Gaster, to see her true self under that supposed facade. But when he tried to find that familiar glowing heart, he couldn’t see anything. No glowing heart, and the stats that came up didn’t show him anything. 

 

**LUMINARI -**

 

**LV XXX**

**HP XXX/XXX**

 

 **AT XXX** **DF XXX** **EXP XXX**

 

**“SHE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE THIS”**

 

He didn’t check once, but multiple time throughout their conversation. Sometimes he could see a small purple fog around where her soul would be, other than that nothing else. Humans shouldn’t have magic anymore, nor should they be able to hide their stats. The only people that he knew could do that were Gaster and Gerson and those two were one of the oldest and most powerful monsters, next to the king. 

 

Mages used their magic to hide their stats during the war to ambush the monsters, the more hidden their stats, the less likely their intent will be felt and it was easier for them to get close to the monsters without getting spotted. Or so he was told. Sans wasn’t born yet when the war was going on, only after the war when they were sealed underground. Gerson would tell him stories of his battles with the humans when he visited his shop, in his younger days before Papyrus was born. 

 

If Lumianri was a regular human with an anomaly with her soul, that would be fine, but weird. As long as he got to know her intentions towards the monster. But if she was a mage, then that would be in an entirely new situation. Humans were more powerful than monsters, despite their lack of magic. If they had the intention to harm, it would be as easy as slicing through butter with a glowing hot knife. But mages, mages had the power to do more. It was mages that sealed the monsters underground, and you can never know if history would repeat itself. 

 

Frisk is a time mage, he knew this from first hand experience of course. If they could abuse their power and wreck havoc and chaos over and over again, who knew what the human in question could do? Plus, Frisk was and still is a child, despite their deeds, they were inexperienced with their magic. If they were dealing with an adult mage, one that knows what they were capable of and hides their soul from others, it would be the biggest threat to the entirety of monster kind. 

 

He had to find out more about this human, for Papyrus and everyone else’s safety.

 

Sans sighs as he shrugs on his jacket and puts his hat on. Maybe talking to this “Ver” that the Don spoke to on the phone would give him some answers, they seem close enough friends. But then again, they are friends so they might not talk. Welp he could always test his luck. With that, Sans blips out of his room to the alley behind Grillbys.

 

* * *

  
  


**Verona’s POV**

 

“Over here, Ms waitress!” a bunny monster sitting with a cat monster waved at her from his table.

 

She walks over with her circle tray and smiles “What can I get you folks?”   
  
When  _ Grillby’s  _ officially opened, no later than 5 minutes monsters of all shapes and sizes started streaming in. It almost threw Verona off her game when she saw the large group of monsters but she kept up her smile and went with the flow, just like any other night at  _ The Table at the Corner. _ She came to learn that the monsters were really friendly, despite her being a human. Verona thought that maybe they might be uncomfortable with someone that was different than them like a human would, but as she went around and served the new customers and talked with some of them, she started to warm up to the new species and no longer became nervous around them.

 

Though the patrons weren’t the first big group of monsters that she met that day. She got acquainted with the dog band earlier and practiced a few songs with them before the opening. Her exposure to them allowed to her get accustomed to monsters as a whole, but who knew that monsters were so different from each other?

 

Even so, the evening had been flowing rather smoothly. At one point of time, some regulars of  _ The Table at the Corner _ came in for a drink. They were happy to see Verona and the changes to the place, they even gave Grillby their well wishes before sitting at their regular booth that wasn’t occupied at the time. 

 

Verona walks over to their booth to take their orders. “You old timers ready to order?” she smiles at them

 

“Aye, I’ll get one of these burgers and fries. Jimmy wants a milkshake and an extra large fries basket for the table.” One of them answers.

 

“Great, are there any other drinks can get you all.” she asks pening down the order

 

The men all shake their head to decline. “Say,” one of them pipes up. “Will ya be performin later? We sure do miss yer voice ay missy.”

 

“Well you bet I’ll be singing to night. So make sure you stay for the performance.” she smirks at them.

 

The table cheers as she walks to Grillby with the order. “What was that about?” asks taking the order. 

 

“They’re just excited for the item.” she chuckles

 

Grillby smiles in response. “Why, aren’t you a popular song bird? Then again, with what I heard earlier, songbirds would want your autograph”

 

“Aw, you flatter me Grillby.” Verona swoons against the bar top dramatically.

 

The doorbell chimes as another customer enters. “Welcome” she says, turning to the door. But what she saw completely threw her off guard. A rather short and wide skeleton dressed up in a navy blue suit walks in. Verona was around the average height of a woman her age and this monster was around half a head shorter than her. 

His hat cast a shadow over his face but she could see his smooth boney features held a comical grin as his eye lights shifted around in his dark sockets, as he looked around the room. His suit reminded her of the ones that the mobs and the Asterix family wear, maybe he was part of the new monster mob that she had been hearing about.

 

“Hey it’s Sans!” The bird monster seating a few seats down from her lights up.

 

The other monsters of the bar turn their heads towards the door and some of them welcomes him in. “Hiya, Sansy~” one of them chimes. Verona snorts a small laughter at that  _ “Pfft, a mobster nicknamed named Sansy would be that lasting I’d expect.” _

 

“Lookin good in the new threads, Sans” the fish monster compliments

 

“heh, what can I say, it  _ suits _ me.” the skeleton chuckles, closing an eye socket mimicking a wink.

 

_ “Woah, so it’s not all hard bone huh.”  _ Verona thinks to herself.

 

Sans turns towards the bar and their eyes meets. He walks over to her and extends his hand to her, a lazy smile stretched across his face “You must be the new waitress, I’ve heard lots of thing from your Don. The name’s Sans, Sans the skeleton.”

 

Verona takes his boney hand and shakes it, she could feel the spaces between his metacarpals against her palm. A weird feeling, but not unpleasant. “Is that so? Well I hope it’s only good things then, Sans. But she ain’t my Don, just a good friend. My name’s Verona, can I get cha’ anything?”

 

“heh, nice to meet ya, doll. grillbz knows my regular order, don’t you hot stuff?” He turns to the fire elemental.

 

Grillby sighs at the nickname and recites the order as he starts to prepare it. “Sounds like you’re a regular at his joint.” Verona says.

 

“well grillby’s food is always the  _ hottest _ topic underground.” He says taking his seat next to her.

 

She blinks at him for a moment and then starts laughing. “Ah heh heh well, when the bartender is  _ smoking hot _ , people will keep coming,  _ like a moth to a flame _ .”

 

Sans stares at her with wide eyes and starts laughing uncontrollably, hitting the counter as laugher wrecks his body. Verona smiles to herself, still laughing, feeling a sense of pride for making the skeleton laugh so hard.

 

“Sans, Verona please.” Grillby groans putting a bottle of ketchup and fries in front of Sans.

 

“Whaat? But it’s true.” Verona looks up, tears forming in her eyes from laughing.

 

“she’s right there grillby. ahaha, a doll that punned, who would have thought? i haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.” Sans chuckles, laughter dying down.

 

“I’m glad I can  _ rattle your bones _ .” Verona smiles. A patron calls her from their table and she hops of her seat. “Well I hope you stick around for the performance. See ya.” she waved.

  
  


**Sans POV**

Sans grins, turning back to the fire elemental. “one hell of a doll you got here grillbz, how’s she around the place?” Sans asks

“Pretty good actually, she knows her way around the bar, great customer service towards everyone. She gave me some advice about the layout and we changed it together. And plus, she’s got one hell of a voice.” Grillby replies, mixing a drink.

 

“you’ve heard her sing?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow bone

 

“Yeah, she came in early and practiced with the dogs before we opened.”

 

“huh, guess i’ll be the  _ judge _ if that myself.” Sans takes a drink out of the ketchup bottle.

 

The doorbell chimes, announcing the arrival of another patron. “Lumi!” Sans hears Verona’s excited voice as he turns to look at the entrance. The waitress bounces over to taller woman and gives her a one arm hug. The Don’s stature could be seen clearly when she stood next to the waitress, she was at least 3 inches taller than the average woman. “I see you’re doing well, Ver.” She hugs back. 

 

Verona playfully punches her arm “Better than working at a desk, ay?” 

 

Luminari huffs in response “I guess. What time will you be up?”

 

“In a few minutes. You should try monster alcohol while you’re here, it’s an experience.” They start to walk to the bar

 

“You sound like you’ve had some.” Luminari chuckles

 

“And it’s the best. I’ll see you around, gotta go back to work.” Verona says, moving off to serve a table.

 

The Don walks towards the bar and spots him. “Fancy meeting you here Sans.” she says, taking the seat next to him. 

 

“i used to go to grillby’s on a nightly basis in the underground, why stop when we’re on the surface.”  Sans takes another swig of ketchup, see if it weirds her out. 

 

The Don just chuckles and faces Grillby. “Hello, Grillby. How’s the business?”

 

“Business is booming Miss Asterix, as you can see we’re almost at full house.” Grillby smiles “I’m surprised that humans showed up.”

 

“They must be regulars of the old bar, but I’m glad that everything is going smoothly. I’ll have one of whatever you gave Verona.” she says

 

“curious about monster alcohol?” sans asks “they say curiosity killed the cat.” 

 

“Oh? But she’s still alive and well, plus our little cat claims it was an experience, and whatever experiences she had and lived to share is always an interesting one” Luminari replies.

 

“how long have you and verona been friends?” he asks, munching on a fry

 

“Mmm, for about 3 years give or take. Many years before I formed the Asterix family.” Grillby places a glass of bright blue liquid in front of her. “Echo flower wine.” The contents shimmer and swirl as she picks it up. “Thank you, Grillby.” She takes a sip and her eyes light up, blinking awake. “Wow, this is the best tasting wine I’ve ever had.” she says putting the glass to her lips again, closing her eyes as the effects of the drink washes over her.

 

“when did you form the family?” Sans asks again, hoping he would be able to get a little insight on the Don’s life.

 

“Hmm? Oh, we became an official mob family about 9 years, that was the time when this area was still the, well, least pleasant part of the city. But the formation of the so called family was just for status and name’s sake, we were always a family before the era of gangs.” Luminari replies with a look of nostalgia in her eyes

 

“that long huh, then you must be really old by human standards.” Sans adds.

 

“A lady never tells her age.” Luminari says, putting a finger on her lips, balancing on the edge of her mask.

 

Sans looked at her features, judging her age just by what he saw. The Don had the look of a middle aged woman, maybe around her thirties, a little older than Verona. She had small eye bags and faint dark rings under her eyes, probably from late sleepless nights. Her hair was short and dark, barely touching her shoulders. Her fringe was tucked behind her ear, but parts of it still covered her face. But what made her look even older, threw most of the people off her age, was the streaks of white hair that flowed with the dark black hair. They stood out like lightning bolts in a night sky.

 

Even then, what he saw was only half her face. The other full half was under the white helmet of a mask. What secrets could she be hiding under there, or maybe she really is self conscious of her so called “scar from an accident”.

 

As Sans was about to ask her about her hair, the lights started to dim and the humans at sat at the booth cheered. A spotlight was focused on the stage and Sans could see the dogs with their instruments. “what’s this?” he asks.

 

Luminari turns her body to face the stage, leaning against the bar. “Entertainment.”

 

From the side of the stage, a stunning figure stepped into the spotlight and made her way to the centre of the stage where the mic stood, red dress swishing around her legs as she walked. A closer look at her face in the light and he immediately recognised her, it was Verona.

 

Her hair was let down from her bun over her shoulders and she’d change out of her waitress attire in to a form hugging red dress that stopped above her knees. She had minimal amount of makeup on her face, but her face looked so different under the spot like, her cheeks were rosier, eyes looked bigger and brighter, smile looked as sweet and stunning as ever. It was almost like she belonged on the stage, under the dazzling spotlight. 

 

“Good evening, you lovely people, monsters and humans alike. Welcome to the opening night of the new Grillby’s. For those of you who don’t know who I am, I’m your lovely waitress and entertainer, Verona. I’ve been well, singing with the last owner of this place and boy am I glad to see Mr Grillby take this old place up.” the crowd cheers and claps for Grillby as he takes a curt bow.

 

“I am very thankful for this opportunity to come back to this place and sing for all the new and old faces I see tonight. And since I’m sure most of you are new to this surface bar, there is this thing I would like all of you to know of. You see this wide empty space here?” Verona gestures to the area in front of the stage. “I would like to welcome anyone to come down and dance and the band and I do our thing. Is that alright?” the crowd cheers again and she smiles.

 

“Excellent. Now why don’t we get this night started!” The band starts playing the opening to the song and Verona sways to the beat. When the saxophone joins in, she starts to dance on the spot, crisscrossing her legs to the beat. And when it’s time for the vocals, she stops and hugs the mic.

 

**Hey, brother, what you thinking?**

**Leave that old record spinning**

**You feel the rhythm, going**

 

**_“They call it lonely digging”_ ** the dogs chime in

 

**Let's end your time to lay low**

**Your knees a-bending, so**

**It's time to get up and let go**

 

**_“You're gonna come undone”_ **

 

Her smile grew as she swayed to the song

 

**Hey, mama, how's it going?**

**Can't see your body moving**

**Don't leave the party dying**

 

**_“They call it lonely digging”_ **

 

**Your booty shaking, you know**

**Your head has no right to say no**

**Tonight it's ready, set, go**

 

**Baby can you move it round the rhythm**

**So we can get with 'em**

**To the ground and get us a rock and roll round**

**Just a downtown body body coming with a super-hottie**

**Let's go, yes, no, hell no**

**Baby can you move it round the rhythm**

**'Cause you know we're living in the fast lane, speed up**

**It ain't no game, just turn up all the beams when I come up on the scene**

 

As the upbeat chorus began, a slow stream of monsters and humans entered the dance floor and started dancing as Verona sang and spun on stage. The room was filled with life as both monsters and humans enjoyed themselves.

 

Verona hops of the platform and makes her way to the bar.

 

**Hey, brother, what you thinking?**

**That good ol' sound is ringing**

**They don't know what they're missing**

 

**“They call it lonely digging”**

 

**Let's end your time to lay low**

**Your knees a-bending, so**

**It's time to get up and let go**

 

She grabs Grillby and brings him to the dance floor as she continues to sing into her mic. Grillby looks at Sans for help as he is being dragged but he just gives the bartender a thumbs up. The crowd on the dance floor cheers for Grillby when he enters the centre and Verona goes back onto the stage.

 

**Hey, brother, nice and steady**

**Put down your drink, you ready**

**It's hard when things get messy**

**  
** **“They call it lonely digging’**

 

**Your booty shaking, you know**

**Your head has no right to say no**

**Tonight it's ready, set, go**

 

Grillby shrugs busts some sick moves as they enter the chorus and the crowd cheers even louder for the fire elemental. His body creating glowing after images like on an overexposed photograph as he spins and dances among the crowd. Verona start to dance on stage as well, careful not to trip on the wires

 

**Baby can you move it round the rhythm**

**So we can get with 'em**

**To the ground and get us a rock and roll round**

**Just a downtown body body coming with a super-hottie**

**Let's go, yes, no, hell no**

**Baby can you move it round the rhythm**

**'Cause you know we're living in the fast lane, speed up**

**It ain't no game, just turn up all the beams when I come up on the scene**

 

The crowd continues to dance to their hearts content until the music dies down and Grillby slinks back to the comfort of his bar. Verona continues to sing a new song with the band behind her.

 

“heh never seen you move like that before.” Sans grins at the fire elemental

 

“And I’ve never seen you glow that brightly at a human, Sans.” Grillby remarks, picking up his polishing cloth

 

“what?” Sans asks blinking. He brought his hand up to his cheek and sure enough, a faint cyan glow was reflected off his phalanges.

 

“You’re blushing, Sans” Grillby smirks at him.

 

“n-no i’m not, must have had too much alcohol.” sans shoots back, turning back to the stage ketchup bottle in hand.

 

Grillby chuckles to himself.  _ “He didn’t have any” _ he thought.

 

Sans watched as Verona sang and danced on the stage with that bright smile of hers as the crowd below danced with the music. Her melodic voice made his soul soar everytime she dragged a note. The way she caressed the mic in her hand as she danced and smiled without a care for the world, he felt his magic rise to his cheeks. And every time she would glance in his direction, he felt like his soul was going to jump out of his ribcage.

 

_ “No.”  _ Sans shook himself out of his daydream. A human like her would never like a monster like him, plus she could just be looking Grillby or the Don that was sitting next to him. He turned his focus to the rest of the room to keep his mind off the singer. Sans looked at the dance floor brimming with action and life. It was certainly a sight to see, monsters and humans smiling together. Never would he thought that the humans would accept them with open arms. 

 

“It’s not always like that.” Luminari says, as if she had read his mind.

 

“what is?” Sans asks

 

“Humans and monsters living in harmony. The people of this town are more open minded about the “new”, about change. Because it only did them good. Every human you see in this room lived was homeless one way or another. But when a chance to change was given to them, they took it. Different people have different mindsets about things and the people outside of this area, some of them think very differently from us. They may not welcome monsters as friendly as the ones you see here today, so you should keep your guard up.” Luminari warns him.

 

“heh, don’t need to be told that” Sans takes another swig out of the ketchup bottle.

 

“That’s good.” Luminari glances at her watch. “I gotta go, need to finish some more work before the meeting. Tell Verona I left early, she’ll understand. Thanks for the drink Grillby, I should bring more people here to try it out.” Luminari waves to Grillby as she leaves. 

“Get home safe, Miss Asterix.” Grillby waves back as she exits.

 

The last song dies down and the crowd cheers as Verona takes a bow. “Thank you all for coming here tonight, ya’ll have been a great crowd. Give it up for Dogamy, Dogressa, Doggo, Lesser Dog and Great Dog for the amazing music. I’m Verona and have a great night.” The lights come back on as she disappears off stage, perhaps going off to change. The crowd slowly disperses going back to their tables to catch a breath from all the excitement.

 

Sans turns back to Grillby. “you were right, the doll’s got one hell of a voice.” he says

 

“Enough to make the _ Judge _ blush.” Grillby chuckles

 

“shut up. i just drank a bit too much ketchup.” 

 

“But, just now you said it was because of the alcohol.”

 

Sans sputters a come back, face glowing bright cyan.

 

“Well, aren’t you lit up like a fairy light?” A voice interrupts him.

 

Sans turns to see Verona dressed in her waitress outfit, tying her hair back into the bun. 

 

Sans chuckles “enough to light up you life, sweet heart. you’ve got a stunning voice, care to sing me a lullaby later tonight.” he flirts, trying to hide his embarrassed side.

 

“In your dreams, bone boy.  _ Alto _ , I’ll think about if you bought me a drink.” she smirks at him, taking Luminari’s seat.

 

“Don’t encourage him, Verona.” Grillby groans, placing a cup of tea in front of her “Good job out there, everyone really enjoyed themselves.”

 

“It’s my job to entertain. I’d be in  _ treble _ if I did a half assed job.” She smiles, taking the warm cup in her hands.

 

“yeah, grillby can have a hot  _ tempo _ sometimes.” Sans winks. The two of them burst into laughter as the bartender throws his hand up in defeat and walks to serve another customer.

 

“You play any instruments, bone boy?” Verona asks still laughing

 

“glad you asked doll, i’m quite fluent with the trom _ bone _ .” Sans replies and Verona laughs even harder.

 

“Oh my god, are you serious? You must be waiting for someone to ask that every time.” 

 

“you have no idea.” he chuckles. “say can i ask you something?”

 

“Sure, hit me.” she replies, laughter died down.

“what was the Asterix territory like before your friend took it over?” Sans asks.

 

“Well that was a total 180 turn, what made you ask that?”

 

“just asking around, i wanna know more about the place, being new to the surface and all.”

 

“Right, right. Well, I wasn’t from this part of the town but I heard a lot about it. When I say heard I mean my parents threatened to leave me here if I didn’t listen to them to do my work or chores. When I was younger, my parents told me that this was the most horrid place to be in. They kinda used this place as a threat so I guess it would be that bad, other than that I don’t really know much about the place.” Verona takes a sip out of her tea

 

“But I can tell you about the time when the Asterix family had just formed. When I got older and got involved with a gang, they sent me here to gather information regarding the newly formed Asterix family. When I arrived it was nothing like the city you see today. The streets were dirty, homeless people lying on the pavement, barrels with fires in them to give the people a form of warmth in the nights and closed down shops everywhere. Everybody thought that Lumi was crazy for taking this area as her territory. Sure, it was big. But you can’t generate money from people that don’t have any. But look at this place now, she really worked her magic.” Verona says smiling.

 

“you seem really close to her, despite her being the big boss of a gang, doll.” 

 

“You could say that. But the Asterix is more a family and everybody’s friend instead of a all powerful that stands above its people. Lumi made sure of that. And plus, I really owe my life to her. If not for her I wouldn’t be here, doing what I love.” Verona takes another drink out of her cup.   
  
“I don’t know why you want to know so much about Lumi, I saw you talking when she came in and heard a little bit. It’s not my business, but I’m sure Jaws has said this to you. If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay.” Verona looks at him from the side of her eye.

 

“well, you got that part. she must really be a good friend to you, it was never my intention to harm her, just curious.” Sans gives her a lazy grin and the serious look on her face disappears.

 

“Well,  _ curiosity killed the cat. _ Stay safe, bone boy.” Verona says as she finishes the rest of her tea and hops of her stool going back to her waitressing duties.

 

Sans stares at the ketchup bottle in hand. “Hey Grillby, I’ll have a burger and fries to go.”

 

“Leaving already? What, canary chased you off?” Grillby teases, preparing his order.

 

“nah, just need to return to the old man before he starts yelling at me for staying out too late.” Sans sighs.

 

“Sure... Here you go, say hi to Gaster for me.” Grillby hands him a brown take-away bag. 

 

“sure thing, grillbz. G’nite” with that, he teleports back to the house, the surroundings of his room reappearing around him.

 

Sans walks to Gaster’s office and knocks on the door  **“Come in”** his voice answers from inside. Sans opens the door and steps into the room, dinner bag in hand. “got ya food. grillby says hi.” he says

 

**“Ah, thank you. So, did you find out anything new from the waitress.”** Gaster asks, looking into to the brown bag.

 

“Verona and Don Asterix has been friends for around 2 years and the Asterix family was formed 9 years ago. I also asked about the area before the Family and apparently it was a real dump, the worst possible place to live in the entire city. Nobody knows why, I’ll have to find that out another time.” Sans reports, sitting himself in an armchair.

 

**“Yes, I’ll see you to that. If we can find out why she chose this area maybe we can find a link to her intentions. How was the opening?”** Gaster asks

 

“it went quite well, some humans came in and didn’t cause a fuss, everyone enjoyed themselves during the performance…” Verona’s smile flashed in his head.

 

**“That’s good, but keep your eye sockets out. The meeting of the Dons is soon and you are coming with me.”** Gaster says, taking out the burger

 

“kay… i’m going to bed.” Sans gets up from the armchair and walks towards the door.

 

**“Good night, Sans.”**

 

“night.”

 


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster meets the Dons of Ebott City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry of the long wait!! I hope this longer(ish) chapter will make up for it <3

The sun lowers behind the silhouette of mount Ebott as the orange glow bathes the Ebott City. The city is bustling with life of people heading off to their next destination of the day while others stay indoors to do their own thing. Among the vehicles on the road, a few black sedans with tinted glass could be spotted among the regular cars driving to a specific location...

 

In some areas, the people would flee at the sight of said cars, while in others they would smile and wave as they drove past. Because in these vehicles sat the most powerful people of the cities, the Dons and their right hand men or women.

 

Every few months, the Dons would hold a meeting at either of their homes to make sure that documents between the heads are officiated and recognised among them. At times they would address certain outstanding problems and hopefully solve them then and there, otherwise there might be a larger event of conflict. And it was on this lovely evening, that the Dons were going to meet at the house of the Lagusas, North-west of the Asterix territory. 

 

4 jet black sedans pull up at the entrance of the Lagusa’s mansion. The first car’s door opens revealing an old man with white slicked back locks. His built was rather muscular as he filled out his suit, stepping out of the vehicle. His grey eyes surveyed the other vehicles as he straightened his back and puffed out his chest.

 

From the other side of the car, a younger man stepped out with a similar looking suit. His dark hair done up in a high ponytail at the crown of his head. 

 

“Looks like we were the first, father” the younger man says, tipping the driver.

 

“Punctuality is of utmost importance, Frederick. A Vanero must never be late.” the old man turns closes the door of the car and walks to the stairs to the mansion.

 

From the second car, the masked features of Don Asterix emerges from the dark vehicle. “I second that thought, Florence. You’ll miss out on so much important discussions, like a dear friend that we know of.” she says stepping out of the vehicle.

 

Luminari was dressed in a smart black suit and tie, the cuffs of the suit were held together by silver asterisk cufflinks that reflected the evening light of its surface. Behind, Sam’s white hair could be seen rising from the other side of the vehicle as he closes the car door, his mask holding its signature round smile. 

 

“It’s good to see you again, Don Aster, Sams.” Frederick Vanero gave the two of them a curt bow. 

 

“It’s good to see the two of you as well.” Luminari smiles at the Vanero pair. The doors of the third car opens, revealing Gaster and Sans. “I would like you to meet two new friends that I’ve made, I’m sure you’ve heard of them.” Luminari turns to the skeletons as they approach.

 

“Florence, Frederick, this is W.D Gaster Serif and Sans Serif, the to-be new head and right hand of the monster family, if today goes as well as I believe it would. Gaster, Sans, Don Florence Vanero and Frederick Vanero. Their territory is North-East of ours and one of my dear friends.” Luminari introduces the two to the Vaneros.

 

**“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Don Vanero.”** Gaster extends his skeletal hand as San gives them a curt bow.

 

Don Vanero looks at the extended hand with a gaping hole in the middle with a raised eyebrow for a moment, but takes it in his rough hand. “Well we’ll see about that Mr Serif, the life of a mob boss is one that is on edge everyday, especially between other Families. Perhaps at the end of this you’ll walk out a Don if we see that you’re up for it.”

 

“Of course” Gaster nods.

 

Sans looks back as the doors of the other car swing open. “We should go up or we’ll be la-”

 

“Well well well, if it isn’t Samson and Don Aster. Glad to say that I didn’t miss your sad faces. Oh wait, I can’t even say that, both your mugs are hiding behind those tacky masks of yours.” A loud obnoxious voice cuts through the start of a peaceful, polite evening.

 

A man in a maroon pinstripe suit saunters over to the 4 of them. His dark hair was gelled upwards into a pointed tip at the top of his head as his face held a mocking look directed at Sams as the masked male rolled his eyes at him.

 

Behind him a slightly older man, around the same age as Frederick stood smirking as he watched the brunette insult the Asterix pair. He wore a suit with a fur collar and had multiple large gold rings around his digits. Among the 3 mob bosses gathered, I guess you could say that he was the one that looked more like a leader of a  _ gang _ than a  _ family _ .

 

“The feeling’s mutual,  _ Manford _ .” Sams glared at the man.

 

Manford’s mouth morphed into a scowl as he glared back at Sams. His eyes turned from him to the figures around the man and rested on the skeletons, specifically the shorter one with a similar looking round mouth and dark blue suit as Sams. he looks back and forth between the two and cackles. 

 

“Aww, ain’t this cute, you got a lil monsta twin. Can stop looking at yourself in the mirror? Or ya trying to find something uglier than ya to compare with? Either way, there’s gonna be 2 smiley monsters that we have to stare at. As if one wasn’t disgusting enough” he shrugs.

 

“yeah, your buddy back there has mug only his mother could love, but hey, we've all got our opinions.” Sans grins as he tucked his hands in his pockets. Luminari snickers behind her hand as the man of subject’s smirk changes into a sneer

 

“How dare you refer to me like that, you filthy monster.” Goldrings fumed as he stomped towards the group. His arm immediately extended to grab Sans suit but as San’s eye lights up with magic and before anyone could stop him, Luminari raised her leg and planted her foot square on his chest, kicking him a few feet away. The angered mob boss sneered at her as he regained his balance and held the spot of the impact.

 

“Don’t you dare lay your bloody hands on them,  _ Lector _ .” Luminari growled at the man.

 

“You could say so for yourself,  _ Moon _ .” Don Galassion glared back at her dusting off his suit. 

The two family heads stood off against each other as the group stood in silence. The monsters had no context whatsoever about the history between the two other than how Luminari warned them about the Galassions and that based on the interactions between families, they were absolute jerks. The Vaneros stared at the scene before them, choosing the option to stay out of their regular bickering.

 

Don Vanero looks at his watch and clears his throat, interrupting the seconds of silence. “Well if you’re going to keep staring at that imbecile you’ll be late for the meeting, Asterix.”

 

Luminari huffs and turns to the monsters and Vaneros. “Your right, he isn’t worth our precious time. The quicker we can get this over and done with, the quicker I can get him out of my sight.” Luminari grumbles at they make their way up the stairs.

 

“For once we agree on something, Moon.” Don Galassion snorts, jerking his head to signal his right hand to follow.

  
  


**Sans POV**

 

Sans saw Luminaries expression change when the mob boss referred to her by that name. There was probably a history behind it between the two of them and the name. Should he be worried by yet another secret? If it was another secret that she was hiding from them… well it might not affect the monsters as much he thinks, but the possibility is still there.

 

Another thing he noticed when the Galassion boss tried to grab him there was a flicker of her stats. He had seen her moving as the mob boss came at him and in that split second decided to CHECK her stats. It was the first time the monsters have ever seen her react like this to anything, usually she was calm and constantly smiling. Maybe with the shift of focus and emotions she would be distracted from hiding her stats. 

 

And she was.

 

**LUMINARI -**

 

**LV X40**

**HP 8X0/X50**

 

 **AT 9X9** **DF X57** **EXP 9XX**

 

**“THE SIGHT OF A THREAT FILLS HER WITH THE NEED TO PROTECT”**

 

Given the numbers and empty spaces, he can safely say that her stats are around the hundreds. Even so, that LV is too high for a normal human. Sure, she may be a boss of a mob but the other mob bosses have a much lower LV than hers. The highest being 58, belonging to Don Galassion.

 

The higher the LV, the more people you have killed, the further you’ve distanced yourself from humanity, the easier it is for you to kill again. She was definitely a red flag in a society.

 

He had to keep a closer eye on her, search for more information on her history. To keep Papyrus safe, to keep everyone safe. If this human was a big threat to them than the kid, only the stars will know what will happen to them.

 

As the group approached the entrance, the door opens to reveal the bright interior of the mansion. A man in a suit stood in the doorway and welcomed them in. “Good evening, Don Corsica and Don Lagusa are waiting inside. If you would follow me.” he gestures for them to enter.

 

“Heh, Vincent is early for once.” Don Vanero laughs.

 

“For once. I thought he wasn’t going to appear on time, since his car didn’t arrive.” Luminari chuckles.

 

As the 2 heads talk and laugh with each other, the head of the Galassions and his  _ lackey _ trailed behind. Both of them whispering to each other as they looked him, Gaster and Luminari. When Manford saw Sans looking back at them he clicked his tongue.

 

“What are you looking at, monster?.” He spat.

 

Sans just quietly turned back without a response. It was no use trying to communicate with people like that.

 

The group arrives in front of a large wooden door. The guide knocks on the door and a distant “Come in” could be heard from the inside. He opens the door and the 8 of them walk in. 

 

“Welcome, friends! Let’s get this meeting going shall we? We’ve got some important things to go through.” A man in a brown suit welcomes them with open arms. His brown eyes were sparking as he stood at the head of the table while as a woman in a tailored suit stood somewhere behind him. 

 

He lights up and makes his way to them when he looked at his direction. “Ah, you must me Mr Gaster, Luminari has told me much about you and the newly reformed area. My name’s Lawrence Corsica, it’s great to finally meet you!” He shakes Gaster’s hand with a smile.

 

**“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Don Corsica. And I must thank you for that piece of land, without it we would not have a home.”** Gaster replies sincerely.  **“This is my son, Sans. I was told to bring someone to be appointed as my right hand.”**

 

“Ah yes, nice to meet you young man.” Don Corsica turns to Sans and gives him a warm handshake.

 

“nice to meet cha’ don.” Sans says

 

Lawrence smiles in approval and turns back to Gaster. “Well, you should be thanking Luminari first, she was the one that did her magic in transforming it into the wonderful place it is now. But anywho, come come, let’s get on with some more important tasks.” Don Corsica gestures to the seat in between his and Luminari’s, who has taken a seat and is talking with the other man in the room.

 

“Hah ha! It’s good to see you on time, Vincent.” Don Vanero laughs

 

“Ehehe I suppose it nice to be early for once. I was actually in the neighbourhood when i remembered about the meeting.” He rubbed his neck

 

“Ah, no wonder. But it’s still good to have you here.” Luminari says.

 

“Ah Gaster, this is-” Luminari turns to Gaster as he takes a seat next to her and introduces him to the man. He was the other Don of Ebott city, Don Lagusa. Behind him stood another woman with a short bob haircut in a smart attire and a pencil skirt. Must be his right hand he thought

 

All the right hands of the families were standing behind their family heads quietly, not looking or focusing on anything particular.

 

Sans turns to Sams. “so uh, what exactly do we do?” he asks.

 

“We just stand back and listen on the meeting, don’t want to miss out on the important stuff. Plus its good to know what the other families are up to. Don’t talk unless someone calls on you. I guess you can whisper to Gaster if you want to say something important, I do that sometimes, but other than that no talking.” Sams replies.

 

“why the no talking?” he asks

 

“Well that rule was imposed after  _ someone  _ wouldn’t shut up during one of our meetings and Don Corsica got really angry.” Sams says glaring at Manford.

 

Sans snorts and turns back to face his front as Don Galassion claps his hands. “Alright, I would like to start today off by welcoming Mr Gaster and Sans to this meeting. As most of you might know, the monsters have emerged from our beautiful mount ebott and now are residing in the small area between mine and Don Asterix’s territory. With much help from the Asterixs, the monsters have successfully built a successful community in our city and i would like to congratulate them on their success in such a short time.”

 

The room fills with applause as the people present looked at Luminari and Gaster. The Galassions gave them a slow, reluctant clap as Manford bit his lip in irritation.

 

“Now, the main reason we are gathered here is to discuss whether us as a collective would recognise Gaster’s proposed family as a new group of Ebott city. The monsters as we know now are technically still under the Asterix protection and part of her territory.

 

Gaster, if I may, would like you to present your reasons on why you would like to form a mob of your own. This livelihood that we involve ourselves in is not an easy one, and it would hardly be anyone’s ambition to be part of the mob for no reason.” Don Galassion continues.

 

Gaster takes a breath and addresses the table.  **“For starters I would like to thank everyone here for welcoming us and hearing us out today. The monsters and I have discussed among ourselves about the formation of a monster mob and we do have our reasons on why we would like to have a mob of our own.**

 

**Firstly we would like to become independent from the Asterix family. It is not because we are ungrateful for their help but we prefer to not be a burden on her and the Asterix family. Don Asterix already has a lot on her plate with taking care of her people and managing her territory. We don’t want to hold her back by adding even more responsibilities on her shoulders by being under her family’s protection. Hence, I think becoming independent from the Asterix family would be beneficial for both of us.**

 

**She has also already helped us so much these past months by funding the construction of New Home and even now supporting us by agreeing to help us in the monster family’s own family. We as a community would like to pay her back for all she has done in due time and I feel it would be easier if we as a group oversaw the process.**

 

**Secondly, we would like to form the Family for the protection of the monsters. Since the barrier broke, the humans have many different reactions towards receiving us into their society, some less welcoming than others. I feel that it would be better for the monsters if we have the power to protect them being a mob against those who wish to attack us.”**

 

“Yeah, that's because you freaks have basically painted a target on your backs.” Don Galassion interrupts.

 

“You’ve got something to say Lector?” Don Corsica raises his eyebrow as the others roll their eyes and sigh.

 

“Here we go again.” Sans hears Luminari grumble under her breath

 

“Yeah i’ve got something to say. You bunch of talking animals come out of the mountain and you expect us to treat you like a humans? That’s the most hilarious thing I’ve heard since Moon took over beggars land.” He snorts 

 

“And what’s a skinny joke like you taking charge of a mob, huh? Your goat majesties not good enough? Or maybe they’re living out their furry asses eat grass like their meant to? Or even better, their fucking like actual animals”

 

Sans felt his magic surge as he eye glows cyan. His grill pulled into a flat line as he clenched his fist. Hearing that man talk smack about Toriel fills him with DETERMINATION to dunk on him. “hey buddy-” he starts.

 

But as he was about to say anything else, Sams elbowed him and gave him an urgent look as if to remind him not to speak. Sans reluctantly stopped what he was going to say, his glowing eye slowly dimming to a pair of empty black sockets, his anger still rattling his bones.

 

“Yeah that’s right Samson, keep your lil pet on a leash-” Manford remarks smirking

 

“Shut the fuck up Manford.” The previously quiet Don Lagusa says in a low voice, giving the offending male a death stare.

 

Manford audibly glups under the man’s gaze and immediately shuts his jaw with a click.

 

“See? That monster tried to threaten me with it’s magic!” Don Galassion yelled, ignoring his subordinate

 

“That already validates this whole argument, these monsters are clearly a threat to humans with their magic and powers! Giving them more power over the city like say,  _ literally handing a piece of the city to them and allowing them to be here _ , would mean they can wage gang wars with either of us and steal our space. Heck they’ve already taken part of the Corsica territory and made it their own, who knows when they’ll want more from us.” He continues.

 

Gaster sighs as he interlocks his phalanges.  **“Well if that is what you think of us, i would like to clear these doubts and baseless assumptions that you’ve made. The SOULs of monsters are made of hope, love and compassion, hence it would be against our nature to hurt others intentionally. Furthermore, the SOUL of a human is far more stronger than a SOUL of a monster, without the requirements of hope, love nor compassion to exist, your kind would be more of a threat to us. But this does not mean that the monsters are defenceless. Having a monster mob to protect them from danger would help bring peace to Ebott city.**

 

**And regarding the implied theft of Don Corsica’s territory, if I remembered correctly the area which New Home is currently located was a slum settlement that Don Corsica signed over to Don Asterix before the barrier broke, so it was Don Asterix that gave us the territory legally.”** Gaster explains calmly. Don Corsica nods in agreement to his explanation as Luminari smirks at the scowling man.

 

“Well that still doesn’t say anything about the  _ dangers _ of the magic you have and we don’t.” Galassion huffs.

 

“Their magic is like any of us with a gun, they use it to defend themselves from threats. They have full control over their magic, unlike someone we know. And like Gaster said, it’s not part if their nature to harm others intentionally, which I assume is a foreign subject to someone such as yourself.” Luminari stares at Don Galassion from the corner of her eye mockingly.

 

“So unless you would like to continue complaining like a child about their presence and hold back this entire meeting, I’d suggest you kept your mouth shut while the grown ups continued discussing.” Luminari finishes.

 

The Don sputters angrily as Don Corsica continues the meeting. “Thank you for that Gaster, I’m sure most of us can agree that we feel the same way about keeping our people safe. Now, regarding the different territories, I would like to talk about how safe is it for the monsters to be in each of our areas. We as family heads have little control of what the people do on their own and will only know how to handle things after they have happened, so making clear of which territory is safe in for monsters and which we would prefer you to avoid would make life easier for all of us in the future. I’ll start, the Corsica territory is relatively peaceful and we’ve haven’t had much conflicts within our area so I can only assume that is safe for monsters, but if anything happens we will be on alert.”

 

“Same for the Vaneros, feel free to visit. However it might get dangerous in the nights to try not to stay out too late.” Don Vanero warns.

 

“Y-yeah, same for us, come visit anytime.” Don Lagusa agrees.

 

“The Asterix territory is always safe for anyone.” Luminari smiles.

 

“I don’t want you freaks anywhere near my territory, or I’ll kill ya.” Don Galassion sneers

 

“We all don’t want to be in your territory Lector.” Don Corsica huffs.

 

“Now, let’s come to a decision on whether the monsters should have a mob of their own. If you agree, then give your blessing to them, I’ll start. I Lawrence Corsica, head of the Corsica family give my blessing for the creation of the Serif Family.” Don Corsica says standing and puts his right hand on his chest.

 

“I Florence Vanero, head of the Vanero family give my blessing for the creation of the Serif Monster Family”

 

“I Vincent Lagusa, Head of the Lagusa Family give my blessing for the creation of the new Monster Family, led by W.D Gaster Serif.”

 

“I Luminari Asterix, Head of the Asterix family, give my blessing for the creation of the Serif family.”

 

“I’ll never agree to any of this.” Don Galassion sneers at the table.

 

“No one said you had to Lector.” Luminari looks down at him.

 

She turns to Gaster and smiles. “So, got anything to say, Don Serif?”

 

Gaster blinks at her.  **“Well uh, I didn’t think it was going to be this easy, but thank you all for giving us your blessings, I hope our futures will be prosperous.”**

 

The Dons clap as they take their seats. The rest of the meeting was filled with small updates on the wellbeing and  minor problems of the territories. The meeting soon came to an end and the family heads part ways. Outside, Riverperson was waiting for them in the same black car along with the vehicles.

 

“Congratulations, Gaster.” Luminari says as they reach the bottom of the stairs. “I hope the monsters will feel safer now that they have you and the boys. Even though you are technically independent from my Family, feel free to call on me if you need anything. The first steps of a head is never easy.” She smiles

 

**“Thank you, Lumimari. I couldn’t have been more grateful for all your help.”** Gaster returns the gesture.

 

“You’re welcome. Good night then.” She waves, entering the vehicles.

 

**“Good night.”**

 

Gaster and Sans step into the car and River drives them back to New Home. “Did you notice anything during the meeting?” Gaster asks.

 

“yeah, our sweet dear helper has a LV in the hundreds.” Sans replies seriously.

 

**“What?”** Gaster’s eyes widens

 

“i CHECKED her when the bastard tried to grab me. apparently she was distracted for a bit and din’ hide her stats fully.”

 

**“Well this is very troubling… with what we know now, we can assume that she’s a mage like the child. Perhaps a more powerful mage then them…”** Gaster rubbed his hands together in deep thought.

 

“i’m still searching for more clues about her history… we’ll just have to wait and see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't checked out my art tumblr, go check it out!!
> 
> There nothing much on it for now since i just created it but i will be slowly adding characters designs of my OCs, especially the ones that you see here!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/komaxkoma
> 
> here's Sams' design:  
> https://komaxkoma.tumblr.com/image/179925918998
> 
> (i don't know how to do the hyper link thing here ;-;)


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New beginnings for monster, old conflicts, old hate, death again...
> 
> Warning: Lots of swearing in this chapter and also mild violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm not dead (yet)! So sorry I haven't updated in such a long time!
> 
> I added abit of background to Luminari in this chapter and played abit with the POVs so I hope you will enjoy this chapter! Thank you everyone that has given a Kudos, Bookmarked and posted a comment! I really appreciate all the support!!

 

(Back at the Galassion house…)

 

“That. fucking. BITCH.” A loud crash that followed the equally loud curse echoed throughout the floor, despite it coming from behind a closed door.

 

“First she turns everyone on me, then makes me a fucking laughing stock, now she can get whatever she wants?” Don Galassion fumes as his temper gets the best of him. The fragments of a broken paperweight strewn across the floor as a testament to his anger,

 

“N-Now boss, we can always take care of them in another way. The Asterixs will fall sooner or later-” Manford says trembling in his boss’s presence, hands raised in defense in case something else comes flying his way.

 

“I have enough fucking problems on my hands with those freaks in the city and YOU, you are not helping for SHIT. you can’t even follow simple, SIMPLE instructions about keeping your mouth shut! One of these days I’m going to sew it shut and the world will be a better place without all your bull shit” Lector growls.

 

Manford’s eyes widened as he gulps, shutting himself up immediately. He knows that the boss isn't kidding, he witnessed him doing it to one of the client that would not stop yapping and Don Galassion snapped. It was… not a pleasant sight. Especially since the other man was struggling and screaming under the Don’s vice grip.

 

No one dared to mess with Don Galassion, no one but Don Asterix. The two of them have a long history of hatred for each other ever since the Asterix family was created. He had all the reason to hate her of course, they have totally different ideologies to the point where they were always fighting but also the fact that the Asterixs became as powerful as the Vaneros, the Family with the greatest power over the city at that time, in just a few months after their creation, while the Galassions were left to the edge of Ebott city to do their business.

 

“This is the last fucking straw. I’m going to bring both the monsters and Asterix down my way!” Lector yells as he slams his office door open.

 

“I want all of your lazy fucking asses on the perimeter of our territory! If ever anyone of those sniveling freaks even touches our streets, **_kill them on sight._ ** Do I make myself clear? Or do i have to knock the sense into you shits?” He projects his voice like a drill sergeant shocking everyone in the building. A couple of unsuspecting lackeys almost faint in shock when he slammed the door open and starts yelling at them.

 

The ones on the floor nod their head furiously as the scramble to get out of the building. Everybody is running from the furious Don at this point, creating a jam at the front and the back entrance of the building

 

“No one is getting paid until I see a corpse of a monster.” He adds with a sadistic smile.

 

* * *

 

(time skip by shook Galassion gangsters)

 

It was late into the night in Ebott city, the street lamps casted a repetitive warm yellow spot light that lined the roads of the city. Whisk sighed as he trudged back from his new job.

 

Ever since they moved into a house in New Home, Whisk wanted to find a new job so that him and his partner could live a nice stable life on the surface. Because, well, they wouldn’t be able to live off his nice cream stand forever. Whisk went job hunting right after Gaster gave everyone the green card to go outside of New Home and the monsters had access to the rest of the city.

 

He’d found a job as a sales assistant in the Vanero territory, not far from the borders of the Asterixs but far from home. The job was pretty okay, they paid well and the people were nice to him. Though some did stare quite a lot as he worked behind the counter. But he can’t complain, it was better than working at MTT’s with that terrible nickname.

 

Whisk makes his way through the streets, eye darting left and right and ears standing up in alert. It was never a good idea to be walking alone late at night, the skeletons did go around warning them about the dangers, but the job had late hours, so might as well hope for the best.

 

“Get out of here ya punks! And don’t come back!” the bouncer of the bar in front of him pushes a couple of men into the streets, closing the bar’s entrance behind them.

 

“Well fuck you!” one of them yells back.

 

“It’s all your fault for grabbing that girl.” Another turns to a guy in a brown waistcoat

 

“She was practically grinding on me man, what d’ya expect me to do? Jazz hands?”

 

“Ughhh, shut up. I just want more alcohol in my system.” yet another says, a slight slur in his words as he nestled a beer bottle in his hands.

 

“The fuckin Don is getting all pissy because things aren’t going his way and he take it out on us?” he exclaims to no one in particular and takes a swig out of his bottle.

 

“Well someone better find one of those freaks and fast, I’m running out of cash to get my nightly bottle.”

 

“Your gonna die if ya continue drinking like that ya know.”

 

“Fuck it, I’ll die drunk and happy.” He groans.

 

The gangster’s gaze shifts from his bottle to the figure standing few feet away from them “W’d you starin at.” He spat.

 

“Hey, isn’t that a monster?” The one in the brown waistcoat asks the group, taking a step closer to get a better look of Whisk.

 

Whisk, being a cat monster has various inhuman features such as paws, cat ears and of course fur. But in the dark, his silhouette resembled something close to a human.

 

He takes a step back with every step the man takes closer to him, his instincts telling him to run. And he hid, he turned around and ran for his life. He can’t afford to wait around to see what happens next. If the warnings that Gaster gave them were true, he wouldn’t want to be the one to prove them right.

 

“Hey it is! Get ‘im!” The same man yells and runs after Whisk.

 

“Oi! Come back here.” The first one that spoke up follows him with the other 2 behind him.

 

Whisk felt his SOUL thumping against his chest. He was already exhausted from his job, his energy quickly draining from him as her took every desperate step of escape. Whisk didn’t turn back to see if they were still they, he could feel them catching up to him, hear their footsteps getting closer and closer to him with every laboured breath of his.

 

Suddenly he felt his collared shirt yank back, choking him as it pressed against his neck. Whisk was thrown backwards and hit the hard concrete of the pavement.

 

“Ha ha, gotcha.” the one that grabbed him grins sadistically.

 

“Get him in the alley so no one sees us.” the second one says.

 

Whisk was picked up once again by the neck of shirt and quickly dragged to the alley and thrown against the bricked wall. His head hit the wall with a loud crack and he let out a cry of pain. His vision starting to blur from the impact and exhaustion.

 

“Now we can start.” Brown waistcoat cracks his knuckles and his fist connects with Whisk’s face.

 

The others join in by hitting him and holding him down. “Hurry up with it! The boss said he wanted evidence!.”

 

“Then how about ya take that hand you’re holding down smart ass?”

 

Whisk’s eyes widened in fear he can’t die like this, not without seeing Blu for the last time. With the last strength of energy he had in him Whisk cried out and lashed out at the group. His unsheathed claws doing quite a number on the face of the main assailant.

 

“Mother fucker!” he curses, grabbing his face in pain.

 

The one holding down his other hand immediately grabs his pocket knife and in a swift motion sliced his paw off. Whisk screams in pain as the others continue to hit him.

 

“Hey! The fuck are you doing-” A stranger yells from the entrance of the alleyway, a smaller figure standing next to him.

 

“Oh fuck, let’s get out!” They grab their bloodied friend and run in the opposite direction.

 

“You got the hand right? We need it to show the boss!” one of the yells

 

“Yeah I put it in my fucking pocket. I can’t believe I wasted this suit for a goddamn monster.”

 

The strangers run towards the bleeding Whisk “Oh shit Timmy call the boss!” One of them cries to the other.

 

Whisk could feel his HP dropping below 1. Slowly, creeping its way to 0 by the decimal. Many parts of his beaten body turning to dust. He stared blankly at the 2 newcomers behind half closed lids. They seem like they are trying to help him, shaking him awake and trying to stop the bleeding from his head. But it was too late.

 

**Luminari’s POV**

 

It was late, Luminari has to finish making a number of deals with the local police force to treat the monsters as they would treat humans. She could see the hesitation in their eyes, but it was important that the people and monsters had the authorities to count on.

 

The phone on her desk started ringing. She had just sent out Mus and Timmy out on their nightly patrol, hopefully nothing’s happened to them.

 

“Hello?” She picks up the phone

 

“Uh-h uhm, M-m-Ms A-Aster?” Timmy’s voice answers.

 

“Timmy? Weren’t you with Mus? What’s wrong?” Luminari asks, slightly worried. It was Timmy’s first patrol around the territory. She had Mus accompany him knowing that he would look after the young male.

 

“W-we might have a problem-” Timmy stutters

 

“A _problem_ is an understatement of the year, boss!” Mus’ distressed voice cuts in  “Y’need to get down here quick, a monster got hit! And _hit_ is another fucking understatement. Buddy if you can give me ya name-”

 

“Mus, _where are you._ ” Luminari urged, getting up to get her jacket.

 

“The alley behind-”

 

“whisk” another voice whispered “tell blu... i love him.”

 

“Buddy? Hey, man, Whisk, stay with me!” Mus shouts towards the source of the unfamiliar voice

 

“What’s going on?” Luminari demanded, anxiety rising inside of her.

 

“He’s- he’s turning into some white stuff! Is this, dust? We’re at the alley behind ‘ _Casanova_ ’, the bar in between us and the Vaneros. What do I do boss?” Mus answers. Luminari knits her eyebrows

 

“You- you stay put with Timmy, make sure that the dust doesn’t spread everywhere. I’m going to make a call and I’ll be right there. Just, don’t move anything else, try to remember what they looked like and what happened in the meantime.”

 

“Roger that boss.” Mus hangs up.

 

Luminari clenches her fist as her other hand rubs her tired eyes. “What the fuck is he up to now… it's too early for this shit.”

 

She sighs as she picks up the receiver and starts to dial. **“Hello?”**

 

“Gaster, we have a problem.”

 

(short time skip...)

 

After informing Gaster of the situation and agreeing to meet him later, Luminari lets out an exhausted sigh. She rubs her eye as the right side of her entire body ached.

 

“After a thousand years, and humans still haven’t changed.” Luminari rubs her gloved hand.

 

“I can’t let that happen again. Not after all we’ve accomplished.”

 

* * *

 

 

The air is barely breathable. Filled with the mixed smell of blood, smoke, dust and of course heavy with death. But it didn’t bother you, or more like you couldn’t be bothered by it. You had a job to do.

 

“Okay, finished with this one, he should be stable for now, where’s the next one?” You yelled across the sea of injured bleeding bodies.

 

“Over here! I need help to stop the bleeding!” someone yells from behind you.

 

A life as a healer is always so unpredictable. One day your mixing herbs, practicing your magic, minding your own business and the next day, well, you’re on the other side of the war.

 

Sure there was some tensions and problems between humans and monsters but an all out war between the to species? Why can’t people just live in peace with each other? Just put aside your differences for a happy life.

 

The monsters weren’t even a bad group. They were nice, kind, loving beings. They were one of the first friends she had. She didn’t want to fight them. But being a healer, a _good_ healer, she was forced into the war like her parents and every other human with powerful magic

 

You tried to remember the good days. Days without the war, days without the tension. Just you, the field, the tree, and your friend.

 

A small smile tugged on your lips. Days where it was just the two of you under your special tree reading, talking, practicing magic with each other.

 

It was hard for you to make friends back then, your parents were almost never home, always busy with the counsel of magic and you only knew how to interact with books, not other humans. But when he came along, both your worlds started to open up.

 

You missed his smile. It never failed to bring your spirits up whenever you felt lonely or sad, he was always there with you and you with him.

 

You wondered if he was okay. Who wouldn’t when your friend was on the other side of the war.

 

You hoped you wouldn’t see him. It would be heartbreaking for the two of you to face each other.

 

“Hold him down and heal his head, I’m going to focus on the chest area.” You say kneeling next to a fellow young healer.

 

She nods and shifts to the bleeding soldier’s head, a constant green glow emitting from the palms of her hands. You immediately start working your magic, a brighter green glow lights up your hands as you focus your strength on closing the wound.

 

There were multiple stab wounds on this soldier, creating a hole in most of his vital organs. If you stop your magic, he would die in just a few seconds. The man grunts awake and weakly opens his eyes.

 

“Stay still, your vital organs are severely damaged. What happened to you?” you asked glancing at the soldier.

 

“Bones, many bones. Please save me.” He pleads eyes watering. “My daughter, she will be alone.”

 

A small pang of emotion hit your heart. “I will do my best.”

 

“Thank you, Miss.” He says closing his eyes to rest once again

 

Seeing this man worry about his daughter, for his daughter, you how were your parents were. You wonder if they were alright, if they were still alive, if they thought of you when they fought the monsters as much as you didn’t want them to.

 

‘Stop thinking. You have a job first.” You mentally scold yourself.

 

Yes, you had a job. And that is to save this man, and all the other soldiers, no matter what

 

“AMBUSH!” A soldier yells form the gates.

 

“Lumi lets go!” the young healer urges you bug you shrugged her off.

 

“I’m not leaving him until my job is done” you say will a spark of determination in your eyes.

 

Suddenly, a blast broke through the wall. A white horizontal bright beam of energy. Heading straight for you.

 

Your body was panicking, urging you to move out of danger. But you refused, you were going to stand your ground and finish your job, even if it kills you. You build up even more healing magic within your body and wait for the impact to hit you.

 

“Lumi!” the other healer yells as she tries to push you out of the blast.

 

But she was too late. It hit both of you. Your fellow healer was enveloped in the destructive energy beam and you, your side was hit.

 

Your entire right side.

 

A knock on the door jolted Luminari to the present. “Mother, you called?” Sams opens the door.

 

“Y-yeah, lets go. We’ll meet the rest there. Are the investigators at the scene?” Luminari asks, getting up from her chair.

 

“They’re on their way.” Sams looks at her “… Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine” Luminari sighs reaching up to touch the smooth surface of her mask. “Just remembered something.”

 

She grabs her hat from the hanger and strides towards the exit. “Lets go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr that i will be posting updates on for the fic and art relating to TGTSTU and other things:  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/komaxkoma


	8. Chapter Vll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last but not least! Introducing the one and only Undertaker!

**Kyari’s POV**

 

“Hey Miss Kyari, I’m done with cleaning up.” the older employee enters the office, knocking on the wooden door frame in an attempt to get her attention.   
  
“Hm? Oh, right. You can head home first Chris, just gotta finish up some stuff before I close up for the night.” Kyari waves dismissively at the employee focusing on the small stack of papers on her table.

 

Chris walks up to her desk and looks down at the papers. They were documents of the more recent clients, nothing much to be done on them. Chris sighs and takes a seat in front of his boss. 

 

“It’s one of the  _ feelings _ again isn’t it?” he asks calmly.

 

Kyari’s brows furrowed as she linked her fingers tightly together on the desk. “It is… but it feels different… you can head home first Chris, I’ll stay back for a while.”

 

Kyari always had the ability to know when someone that was supposedly important to her has died. It’s a sad talent really. Unlike some people that knew when people were going to die and maybe try to stop the cause, she only knew when the person was dead when the event had happened. Like a depressing notification of sorts.

 

But that never stopped her from living her life as she wished. In fact, it helped her abit in her job. Undertakers never have a fixed schedule. 

 

When someone needs them, they start work. Other times is just free and easy, cleaning up the place and managing the archives. Knowing when someone has passed allows her to prepare for when the family actually comes to her. After all, she is one of the hand full of undertakers in Ebott City.

 

However, this familiar yet foreign feeling in her chest that suddenly sneaked up on her as she was about to lock up the place. She knew she needed to stay and wait.

 

Chris pats her tense shoulder as he gets up and stretches. “Alright, take care of yourself okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Good night, Chris.” she waves with a small smile on her face as the man leaves.

 

Kyari returns to staring at the papers, eyelids slowly drifting close as she waits in the dimly lit office.

  
  


* * *

 

 

**Luminari’s POV**

  
Luminari surveys the scene beside Gaster. There were blood stains on the wall, a dented dumpster and an unmistakable pile of monster dust. The place was cordoned off by the police as other members of the Asterix family worked with them to investigate the situation. By the side, she could see Mus and Timmy talking to the police and a few familiar faces as they took down notes regarding the situation.

 

Even though his face as neutral, Gaster was radiating with anger beside her. Luminari knows all about losing one of your kind. 

 

Whenever someone in the territory lost someone dear to them, they would always know who to turn to to help them. Luminari knew little about how monsters deal with a dusted member like this but it was worth a try to introduce her to them.   
  
"Do you need an undertaker?" Luminari started, still looking at the alley   
  
**"A what?"** Gaster turned to her confused and slightly frustrated   
  
"An undertaker, someone that oversees the care of the dead with respect." she turns to Gaster “I’m not sure of how monsters deal with deceased family members, but humans hold funerals and cremate their body into ash to keep in urns in remembrance of them."

 

**“Monster families put the dust on the deceased’s favourite object… so that their magic would reside within it.”** Gaster inputs.   
  
"I have a friend that takes care of most of the people’s deceased relatives and I’m sure she would be more than willing to help. I can bring her here considering our situation,” Luminari gestures to the alley “It would be better if we left it to the professional.”    
  
**"... Alright.”** Gaster sighs, his agitation still present.  **“I would also like to meet this,** **_undertaker_ ** **of yours."**

  
"Of course, I was going to bring you there anyways.” Luminari says.

 

The two family head made their way through the quiet dimly lit streets and finally stop in front of a dark funeral parlour.

 

**“I don’t they’re open. It’s late and all of the shops are closed.** ” Gaster says looking inside of the dark shop

 

Luminari moves to knock on the glass door and opens it, the bell at the top chimes to announce their entrance. “She’s inside her office.” she says walking into the unlit parlour.

 

Gaster follows her in wearily looking around. He could make out various shelves and a sofa set from what little light the street lamps provided outside. The air was clean with a hint of disinfectant.

 

“Kyari dear, are you in there?” Luminari knocks on a closed door.

 

“Uh um, coming!” a muffled voice came from behind the door.

  
  


**Gaster’s POV**

 

The lights from under the door lit up as it swung open spilling bright light into the rest of the parlour. Greeting them was a petite girl… lady? Her height didn’t say much about her age other than she was around a head and a half shorter than both of them. Her long hair was pulled into a bun while some stray strands were tucked behind her ear.

 

“Good evening dear.” Luminari greets fondly.

 

The girl’s eyes lit up as she pulled the tall woman into a tight hug. “Lumi! It’s so nice to see you… despite our circumstances. A star didn’t go out, did it?” she looks up at Luminari with a worried look. 

 

“No, not any of them. It was someone else.” Luminari pats her head.

 

“Does it have to do with this handsome guy? For once you can find someone taller than you to be your boyfriend, not that there’s anything wrong with shorter guys. We were getting worried she’ll die alone.” She turns to Gaster her eyes twinkling with mirth.

 

“Kyari, no. Gaster, this is Kyari Kousetsu, one of Ebott City’s best undertakers. Kyari, this is Gaster, the Don of the monster family.” Luminari says as the small human releases her grip on her waist.

 

“Ooohhh you’re the new Don Serif everybody’s talking about! Nice to me you… is it safe to assume that you’re my client tonight?” she shakes his hand.

 

“Not him, no, but another monster.” Luminari says

 

“So that’s what that was. Hm, I’m assuming that you’ve come here for my help but I need a small monster lesson on death before I do anything.” She says taking out a notepad.

 

**“In monster terms, dying is referred to as falling down. The slightly vulgar term that implies the killing of a monster would be dusting. Unlike humans who have a physical form, when a monster falls down their bodies turn to dust as there is no longer any magic left to hold it together.**

 

**Monster families sprinkle the dust of their loved ones on their favourite things when they were alive or something per their request. The little magic left in the dust would then settle onto said object and the fallen monster would then supposedly live on within the object…”** Gaster finishes.

 

Kyari scribbles down the last note and looks back up to him. “So this recently fallen monster, where are they now?”

 

“In an alley, we were hoping you could help retrieve the dust with your tools. Then maybe we could bring it to his family properly.” Luminari says finally.

 

“Alright, I’ll grab my things then we can leave.” Kyari disappears into another dark room, leaving the 2 tall family heads at the entrance.

 

**“How did you two meet?”** Gaster asks, breaking the silence. It was a good time to gather more information about the people around their mysterious benefactor.

 

“The Kousetsu family came from the east and decided to settle down here. I met them back when they first opened up the business here. Kyari’s parents owed me a debt that I helped pay off to support their business. Kyari was 5 at the time. They were juggling between raising their young daughter and running the business to feed themselves, so I stepped in and gave them a hand. Some of my family would help babysit Kyari and she was over at the house a lot so I guess that’s how we knew each other.” Luminari smiles fondly at the memory but suddenly her face changes in to a slight frown, as if she winced at a painful memory.

 

Before Gaster could ask anything else, the petite undertaker emerges from the room with a bag. “Let’s go.”

 

Kyari locks up the parlour and they made their way back to the alley. Gaster walks beside Luminari as the 2 women talk to each other about trivial things and how this have been since the last time they met. Sometimes the younger would refer to Luminari as “big sis” as they talked.

 

As they arrive at the crime scene, saw a few familiar faces from the Asterix family as well as his sons talking to each other. The skeletons see the group walking towards them and immediately walk over to them. 

 

**“You were supposed to be at home.”** Gaster starts.

 

“Not When We Knew What Happened To Whisk.” Papyrus replies, his voice quieter than his usually volume.

 

“pap’s right, we ain’t gonna sit around doing nothing knowing that one of us was killed.” Sans adds.

 

Gaster sighs as Luminari places a gloved hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture. “Boys, this is Miss Kyari Kousetsu. She will be helping us with the dust collection. She handles the various rituals after humans pass so Whisk will be in good hands.” Gaster gestures to Kyari as she steps forwards

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you two.” she says shaking their hands.

 

“the name’s sans, sans the skeleton.”

 

“It’s A Pleasure To Meet You Too, Miss Kyari, I Am The Great Papyrus. I Wish We Could Have Met On Better Circumstances But I Suppose We Should Do What You Were Called Here To Do.” Papyrus shakes her hand and looks towards the alley.

 

“What Are We Going To Tell Blu.” 

 

“No worries Papyrus.” She smiles patting the back of his gloved hand. “I can accompany you to meet Blu later, give them the support they need.”

 

Papyrus gives her a small smile. “Nyeh heheh, Thank You Miss Kyari, You Are Very Kind.” 

 

“It’s all part of the job.” She says moving to approach the pile of dust.

  
  


**Luminari’s POV**

 

Luminari watches as Kyari goes off to collect the Whisk’s dust as the 2 skeletons watch her. “Boss, boss, glad you’re here, Mus told Sams about how they looked like now he’s really cross.” Jaz runs towards her.

 

“He knows who did it?” Luminari asks, though she already has a suspicion who was behind this.

 

“Sams says it’s the Galassions that want the monsters gone.” Jaz says. Leading them to the gathered group where Sams, Mus and Timmy were waiting.

 

“I’m telling you, its fucked up man. I heard them say they needed evidence to show their boss and when Timmy and I arrived, the dude’s hand was gone. They fucking took his hand!” Mus exclaims.

 

“Calm down, Mus. It’s not going to help us when we are all angry.” Luminari steps in. She could feel Gaster’s magic rise in anger.

 

“S-sorry boss.” 

 

“Gaster, this is Mus and Jaz. Mus was there when Whisk was dusted.” Luminari introduces the skeleton to the group.

 

**“We met when you were with Sams at the Camp.”** Gaster nods towards Jaz.

 

“Indeed i was, Don Serif. I am the one that talks in rhymes, and now we meat to solve these crimes.” Jaz shakes his hand. 

 

He turns to Mus.  **“Thank you, for being there, if you’ve hadn’t arrived at Whisk would never be found.”** Gaster thanks him

 

“I just wished I could have gotten there sooner, sir.” Mus looks away.

 

“It’s not your fault Mus, neither is it Timmy’s. The both of you couldn’t have known.” Luminari pats the 2 of them on the shoulder reassuringly.

 

“Now, what do we do with the Galassions…” Luminari address the group, determination and anger in her eyes. No one messes with the monsters and gets away with it, especially now that her family is involved.

 

“We can only wait, see and prepare for what they’re up to. According to the treaty, we can’t do anything unless it directly involves the families. We can leave it to the police to do the investigations and the arrests but the mobs control the police. So as much as we want to hit those bastards,  _ we can’t _ .” Sams finishes, glaring at nothing in particular. Even though he had his mask on, Luminari could see that his lip was curled in anger behind it.

 

Everyone gathered was equally frustrated at the situation. Luminari pinches her nose bridge and lets out a sigh. “Lets just, handle this situation first. There’s a Blu that requires a visit.” 

 

“Man, I really don’t want to be in his shoes right now.” Mus rubs his neck

 

**“You were there when he told you his last words right? You should go with the brothers to visit Blu.”** Gaster looks at Mus.

 

“I-if I must…” Mus sighs. 

 

Kyari walks over with a closed urn in her arms, followed by Sans and Papyrus behind her. “We’re done. I’ve got the dust. I’m following Papyrus and Sans to Blu’s house to… break the news.”

 

“I-I’m going with you.” Mus says. “I gotta tell Blu something.”

 

“... Alright. We’re gonna go now. See you Lumi, Gaster.” Kyari waves to the group as they depart.

 

As they watch the 4 of them walk off into the night Gaster stands silently next to Luminari. “Everything’s going to be… alright. It may just be the beginning of something big but we have to persevere. If they see us crumble… they will win.” Luminari says.

 

Gaster lets out a sigh.  **“If anything, I hope history would not repeat itself. We don’t need another war.”**

 

Luminari nods and walks towards the rest of the Asterix to leave. “I know.”

  
  


**Kyari POV**

 

The four of them walk towards New Home along through the dimly lit streets. Papyrus and Kyari walked in the front as the other two were slightly behind.

 

“So Miss Kyari, Out Of Curiosity And Perhaps To Gather More Intelligence About Humans, What Exactly Do You Do After A Human Has Fallen Down?” Papyrus asks her.

 

“If you mean falling down to be dying then, well I guess I could tell you more about the human rituals or rites that I participate in. When a human passes away, their body is still intact, just not working anymore. Heart not beating, functions that allow the live don’t work anymore and over all just, lifeless. 

 

Families and people go to undertakers to take care of their love one’s deceased bodies. First the body is prepared and cleaned for the funeral-” Kyari explains

 

“What’s A Funeral?” Papyrus asks. “Ah Sorry For The Interruption Miss Kyari.”

 

“It’s alright Papyrus, ask away!” Kyari shines a bright smile at him. 

 

“A funeral is a ceremony that humans participate in to mourn their loss and celebrate the life that the deceased had lived. It typically spans across 3 days but it really depends on the family and the importance of the person to society.

 

The clean corpse is placed inside of a coffin or a casket as people send their well wishes, blessings or offerings to the passed so that they would have a good afterlife if they believe in such a thing. After the funeral would either be the burial of the body the cremation.

 

Traditionally, the bodies in Ebott City are buried in the cemetery with the casket or coffin so that the body in a away returns back to the earth. But as time passes and space in the cemetery decreases, some people are cremated. 

 

This would probably the closest humans will have to monsters as the process involve the burning of the body such that only the brittle bones and fine grains of bone is left, making it look a bit like dust.

 

The bones and powder are then placed in an urn like this one, and are kept in a different section of the cemetery where they are placed on shelves with their names on them. I guess that’s all there is after a human dies, I hope I was able to enlighten you Papyrus!” Kyari finishes.

 

“Wowie! That’s A Lot Of Things To Do And Very Interesting! F-Gaster Mentioned That You Took Care Of All Of The Fallen Humans And Those Many Processes?” Papyrus asks again, eye sockets sparkling as he look at the petite human.

 

“Yup! Every last one! If a family comes to me for help I like to see it all the way through. It’s comforting really, knowing that I helped at least one person. It’s why I love my job.” Kyari flashes him yet another radiant smile.

 

Papyrus’s cheeks were dusted with a soft orange glow as they continued walking. “we’re here.” Sans says as they reach the door of a apartment.

 

“Well, who wants to knock?” Mus asks quietly.

Papyrus takes a breath, or rather his chest inflates as he knocks on the door and steps back.

 

“Oh my stars, Whisk what took you so long! I know the new job had you to work late but this is too late to be safe!” A voice exclaims from inside. The 4 of them felt a pang of sadness and perhaps guilt in their chests as Mus gulped.

 

The door opened to reveal a tall blue furred rabbit monster in a loose shirt and pajamas pants. His face shifted from a mix of irritated and worried, to shock, to confusion.

 

“Sans? Papyrus? What are you doing here this late?” He asks, looking at the skeleton brothers and glancing wearily at the two humans next to them.

 

“uh hey, blu… its about whisk.” 


	9. Chapter VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY HEY HEY! So sorry for not posting for so long, i had some other stuff to work on and i went overseas with my family and then Christmas came and now its the new year! oh boi. I want to thank everyone that has bookmarked, commented and gave this fic a kudos, you have no idea how i excited i get when i see a notification about my fic and it really encourages me to write! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a happy new year!!!.

The four of them stand outside of Blu’s door as they watch his expression morph from confusion to distress. Sans starts to sweat as he averts his gaze, looking at the concrete floor like they had some sort of answer that could solve all their present problems. Papyrus on the other hand, had “sad and pity” written all over his face which was a big difference from his resting smile and bubbly energy. Mustard stood by the side fidgeting with the urn in his hands as he looks desperately at Kyari to say something.

 

Kyari, sensing the foreboding atmosphere sighs. “And that is how you don’t handle the situation, clearly none of you have done this before.”

 

“W-who are you? Who are these humans Sans?” Blu asks his stress climbing.

 

“Calm down, Blu. My name is Kyari Kousetsu, and this is Mus. And like Sans said, we’ve come regarding someone you know, Whisk. Is it alright if talked inside?” Kyari says calmly.

 

“S-sure, come in.” Blu steps aside as the group walks into the small apartment.

 

Kyari sits on one end of the sofa and pats the cushion next to her for Blu to sit. When Blu finally sits beside her Kyari continues. “I know what I say next may come off as insensitive but I don’t want to beat around the bush. Blu, earlier tonight, supposedly when Whisk was making his way back home, he was attacked and dusted.”

 

Blu’s furs stood on its ends as his eyes widened in shock. There was a collective gasp of air through the other’s teeth when the news was broken as if they were wincing in pain and pity for Blu. Kyari takes his blue paws in hers and holds them while watching Blu with calm collected eyes.

 

Blu squeezed her hands as his eyes glisten over. He looks over to the skeleton brothers, “It’s not true, is it. Please tell me that this is one of Sans’ pranks. If it is you can cut it out now.” he says with a weary smile.

 

“it’s not a prank… though i wish it was.” Sans answers still avoiding his gaze.

 

Blu’s eyebrows furrowed as you could see him processes the information. As the seconds ticked by the more distraught Blu looked. Kyari squeezed his trembling hands trying to focus his attention back to her. “Blu, focus on me if it helps. It’s important that you try to stay calm and breathe.”

 

“Breathe, y-yeah. I-I can do that.” Blu’s voice cracks as tears roll down his cheeks

 

“What-what happened to his dust? Where is his dust now?” Blu asks looking back at Sans and Papyrus.

 

“We collected them and brought them here. I’m still new to monster culture and falling down, and given the situation, we thought it would be best to bring him to you instead of leaving him there.” Mus carefully passes the urn to Kyari and she hands it to Blu.

 

Blu gazes at the urn. “He’s… in here?”

 

“Yes.” She answers as Blu hugs the urn.

 

“I’ll... put his dust on… something.” Blu says, slowly calming down “What happens now? Humans are attacking monsters and dusting them, no is going to feel safe anymore.”

 

“We Are Finding Out Who Is Responsible For Whisk And Put A Stop To Their Treacherous Actions. In The Meantime, We Are Going To Make Sure That All Monsters Are Safe, Isn’t That Right Sans?” Papyrus pipes up

 

“yeah pap. but the thing is that it’s a bit more complicated than that. y’ see, we can only protect the monsters within our territory. Anything that happens outside rests in the dons of that territory. And with Whisk’s case, we still need to meet up with the other family to talk about how they can help with the situation.”

 

“So there’s nothing you can do.” Blu states bluntly, his eyes staring blankly at the floor.

 

“I didn’t say that, blu.”

 

“You’re supposed to be protecting us aren’t you? That’s why you made this whole mafia thing with the humans. Saying that you can only protect us when we are in our own area is practically implying that we are only somewhat safe here and no one is going to leave this area without anticipating a human attacking them. Being kept in our space, it’s just like being in the underground again but it was safer and happier then.”

 

“What if I protected you?” Mus straightens, speaking up for the first time since meeting Blu. Blu looks at him questioningly, but with a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes.

 

“Every member of the Asterix family gets at most 4 people to be under their personal protection and we are responsible of their wellbeing until they say otherwise. I want to, well, offer you my protection.” Mus explains.

 

“I’m sure you’ll be going through a lot after this and considering that this might not be the last monster attack, I want to offer a hand to um, help you and stuff. If it’s okay with the monster family I mean since you guys are technically under their family.” Mus says quickly looking at Sans and Papyrus. Sans watches him from his seat as Papyrus listens intently with wide glittering eyes.

 

“I guess, I don’t want to not be able to do anything or be too late when something does happen like with Whisk. Whisk also cares for you very much, and I guess I too wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you...” He trails off rubbing the back of his neck.

 

Blu contemplates the offer. “It sounds good and all but, why are you doing this for me? For all I know you can just be some random human that had just met Whisk.”

 

“I did… and he dusted in my arms when he said he loved you.” Mus clenches his fists remembering the feline monster’s final moments.

 

Blu’s eyes widened as new tears roll down his cheek. He held urn tighter to his chest as he stared at the floor. “I accept your offer.” he raises his head

 

“I see kindness and justice in your SOUL, and you tried to help Whisk even when he was just a stranger. You’re a good person, Mus.” Blu says meeting Mus’ eyes.

 

“Thank you for trusting me, I won’t let you down.” Mus puts his fist to his chest as a pledge. He then takes out a mustard coloured scissors from his blazer’s inner pocket and presents it to Blu.

 

“This is my blade, keep this on you at all times.” he recites like he had memorised it by heart, placing the scissors in Blu’s paws. “When you don’t feel safe or when you’re in danger, break the scissors into two and use them to defend yourself. I’ll be wherever you are as quickly as possible. This is an Asterix’s oath.” Mus finishes, placing his closed fist where his heart would be on his chest.

 

“I’ll remember that. Thank you Mus, maybe I’ll put Whisk’s dust on this so that he’ll be with me too.” Blu squeezes the scissors tightly as Mus smiles back at him.

 

“If there is nothing else to do for tonight, I guess we should get back, it’s late.” Kyari says looking at her watch.

 

“You’re right, I shouldn’t keep you here any longer. Thank you so much for coming here, with Whisk tonight.” Blu pats her shoulder.

 

“You’re welcome, Blu. And if there is anything else that I can help you with just pay me a visit at my parlour. I’m practically there everyday.” Kyari hands him her business card with her number and the parlour’s address on it.

 

The group leaves his apartment as Blu waves them goodbye. “Wow Miss Kyari, That Was Really Something. You Really Handled The Situation Well, I Didn’t Even Know What To Say To Blu.” Papyrus turns to Kyari.

 

“It all comes with practice and experience. Sometimes when a member of a family dies due to mob conflicts I usually go with Lumi to inform the family. It’s always better to not go off topic and keep the person in suspense so I tend to just break the news to them and handle the after.” Kyari smiles.

 

“Wowie. That Sure Is A Lot To Handle.” Papyrus chuckles. “Oh, Speaking Of Humans. You Did Explain The Funerals Things Really Clearly To Me, Is It Alright If I Asked You More Questions About Humans?” Papyrus asks

 

“Of course, Papyrus! I’ll be happy to teach you all about humans. I can be your human teacher! And maybe I can also learn more about monsters from you!” Kyari eyes glitter in the dim light of the street lamps.

 

“WOWIE MY OWN HUMAN TEACHER! AND I THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE THE GREATEST TEACHER OF MONSTERS.” Papyrus returns to his normal volume and poses under the streetlamp casting a glorious spotlight on his lanky frame.

 

Kyari laughs and agrees as they continue to make their way to the gate of New Home. 

  
  


**Sans POV**

 

Sans had never felt so useless in any situation since the barrier broke. When he finally thought that the monsters had the ability to do something for themselves and he could protect the rest of monster kind with his father and brother in the mob, when something did happen and Blu needed his help, he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t find the right words to say to Blu. He couldn’t find the right solutions to help Blu.

 

The only thing Sans did at that moment was to watch as the humans handled everything.

 

Sure the undertaker girl was more experienced at breaking the news to people and comforting them after than he is, but protecting the monsters was what the Serif family was put together for and he couldn’t even give Blu a solution to help him.

 

There was something about the Asterix family too. Everytime when someone was in trouble, they would always be there to selflessly offer their help. And now it’s not just Luminari that does it but the whole family. They might just be a really nice group of people but they’re mobsters for crying out loud. Criminals operating the city in broad daylight.

 

It’s always Asterix this and Asterix that, they must have something under their sleeves (like a gun) waiting for the right moment to strike and bring the whole city down.

 

Walking back after they left the undertaker girl and Mus at the arch, Sans thought about going to the different territories to see if they were any different than the Luminari territory, and hopefully find the ones responsible for Whisk’s death.

 

(time skip~ [HAPPY NEW YEAR I GUESS])

 

Sans leaves the House and makes his way to the streets that separates the Asterix territory and the Lagusa and Vanero territories. Perhaps walking down the street he could perhaps catch a glimpse of what the other parts of Ebott city without leaving the “safety of the Asterix” as advised by Papyrus.

 

He would then venture into the Vanero territory and perhaps go to the bar where Whisk was found behind and question the bouncer and the bartender, if the bouncer let him in. If anything, he wanted to find out the person responsible without the help of the Asterixs.

 

As Sans walked down the street, he could see may humans looking at him from the side of his eye socket. There was a mix of various looks- surprise, shock, fear and who could forget, disgust. This was what sans thought the humans would react to monsters, instead of the bright smiles and open arms of the people in the Luminari area. Sure not every he saw was like that but it sure as heck felt like it.\

 

Sans reaches the Vanero territory and walks down the path to the bar. On his way, he spots a familiar face walking in the centre of a group. The man with the high pony does a double take when he sees Sans and immediately lights up as he makes his way towards the skeleton. The other people in his group follow his gaze and now they are all looking at the short skeleton.

 

“Hey, your Sans Serif right? It’s good to see you around here. What brings you to the Vanero’s side of town, though, I can already guess.” He greets Sans.

 

“well since we both probably know what i’m here for, how about we have a lil chat over some drinks, frederick vanero?” Sans says putting his hands into his pockets.

 

“Hahah, I’m surprised you remembered my name after that one meeting. Yeah, sure we can talk. I know this nice coffee shop down the road if you’d like to join me.” he offers. The people in his group approaches him and asks if he was going to go with them but he waved them off saying that they can go ahead.

 

“sit’ alright to leave your buddies like that?” Sans asks as they made their way to the shop

 

“Yeah, we were just finishing up some stuff, nothing too important. Plus, I’ve always wanted to give you a tour of our area.” Frederick smiles.   
  


“it is a nice place here.” Sans says “though not everyone shares your enthusiasm about talking with a monster.”

  
“Yeah, but you can’t exactly blame them for it. You guys did just pop out from that ol’ mountain and now you’re walking among us. It’s a big change for many people and people don’t like change at times like these.” Frederick sighs in response

 

“But to be honest with ya, I think you monsters are pretty cool. It gets pretty boring when you see the same song and dance of the city over and over again, maybe you guys might change some things around here.” he laughs looking at Sans

 

Sans hums in response as they enter the coffee shop. The little place was deserted left for the old lady behind the counter that happily greeted Frederick. They both ordered a cup of coffee and sat down at a table. Sans pondered on what to ask the man. Should he go straight to asking about whisk, the monster’s involvement in this whole thing or maybe he could ask about the Asterix family. The Vaneros do look like they knew the Asterix family quite well the last time they met at the meeting. Or will that be a bit too direct and blacklist the monsters because he’s trying to dig for information about the Asterixs-

  
“You want to ask me something.” Frederick says suddenly, interrupting Sans’s thoughts. 

 

Sans blinks at him “is that a question on a statement?”

 

“A statement.” he answers, continuing to look at him intently. Sans retracts uncomfortably under his intense gaze.

  
“You want to ask me something but you’re slightly wavered by the fact that I may dislike you after you do ask or I may do something you rather avoid. You want to ask me a sensitive question, or what you assume is a sensitive question.” Frederick continues.

  
“and how would you know that?” he questions further, putting his guard up, not like he didn’t already have it up but he raised it higher.

  
“Well reading people is what I do best, it’s a refined skill and it’s important in the little business we are both in. Sooner or later you will pick up the slight twitches of the face, what some one’s eyes and body language tell you.” he says resting his elbows on the table.

 

“ Your brows or what should be your brows are furrowed and your eye things are looking back and forth between me and space, indicating that you want something from me but your thinking about it. When you’re looking at me your eye things are not looking at me in the eyes but more of my general person, shows that you are not looking for my attention but more uncomfortable with something. 

 

But you’re not uncomfortable with me, no, you’re more of the relaxed type of person that keeps that guard up. I saw it from the way you walked. So if it’s not the person or the surroundings that make you uncomfortable, its something on your mind.”

 

“wow, kid, you managed to pick up all of that from a skeleton. heh” Sans chuckles slouching into his seat.

 

“So, what’s happening up in that skull of yours.” Frederick says leaning back into in chair. “Ask away, I’ll try to answer it as an apology for analysing you like that without asking, most people don’t like that but I can’t help it.”

 

“well, if you’re offering, tell me what you know about the little feud between the asterixs and galassions.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, i know i have been dragging on some stuff but i've prepared some really good stuff for ya'll, i just need to get all the build up and backstory explaining kind of chapters out of the way before the actual action comes in cause i'm really excited for when i post it.
> 
> IN THE MEANTIME, come check out my tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/komaxkoma
> 
> I post updates, art when i can and other stuff so be sure to give it a look!
> 
> (i have no idea how to do the hyperlink thingy in the notes but here the link to Dons height chart thing i drew)
> 
> https://komaxkoma.tumblr.com/post/181510480573/chapter-vii-is-on-its-way-in-the-mean-time


	10. Chapter 9

“Ms Luminari and Lector huh, where do ya want me to start?” Frederick puts his hands behind his head as he slouches further into the chair.

 

“the beginning if you don’t mind” Sans replies. His phalanges twitching in anticipation, maybe he’ll finally get some information, though why this kid is willingly giving it to him is still in question.

 

“Well the first time I met Ms Lumi was at one of the Head meetings with my dad, she was there to propose the formation of her own family and in the middle of  _ Morte  _ of all places. The some of the other heads disagreed with the idea since it wasn’t common to have a female Don and the fact that she was basically setting herself up to fail when she chose the slums as her territory. But I guess majority won and she got her blessings like you guys did.

 

Back then, Lector was still a lackey under the previous Don Galassion and the entire time they were whispering to each other while lookin at Ms Lumi. The Don was probably pretty annoyed that a woman would dare join their ranks and talking smack about her the entire time. Oh right, back then Sams wasn’t her right hand man too. It was some tall dude with grey hair, dressed in dark red, never really caught his name but Sams took his place after a few years.

 

The first time Ms Lumi and Lector actually stood off against each other was when he insulted her or something. Can’t remember what it was about but big red stepped in and Lector backed off, from then on their relationship was a pretty rocky road. Like so rocky it’s not even a road anymore, just drivin over rocks.” Frederick laughs.

 

“i see. then what do ya know about lector giving her nicknames?” Sans asks

 

“Well he gives her many - halfy, slum rat, tomboy, bigshot wannabe, you name it. If your asking about a specific nickname of your bony interest, then ya gotta tell me before i can tell you Sans.”

 

“Moon.” Sans replies in a heartbeat.

 

Frederick looks at him dumbfounded as he met Sans’ eye lights. He blinks his eyes multiple times in silence before he continues. “Man you’re really riding the free info wave huh. Typically I’ll charge for this kind of things, but you can owe me a favour, deal.”

 

Frederick holds his open palm towards Sans. He thinks for a moment before meeting his hand with his skeletal one, shaking on the deal before Frederick falls back into his slouch.

 

“Haaahh, nicknames, nicknames. They aren’t formed from nothing. Be it a certain feature of someone or something they did that gained them a nickname. And as you already know, not curse nicknames aren’t something Lector would give Ms Luminari. In fact when he first started calling her that around us she was visibly furious, once she even punched him.” He chuckling at the thought but his face soon changes to on that’s deep in thought.

  
“When did it start? Ah, before the Asterix became a family, around the time the mobs and crime syndicates were a common thing. But, there was a group of people, vigilantes in Ebott city that scared the wits out of everyone when you mentioned their name.

  
The group didn’t really have a name but the main three members were Reaper, Queen of Hearts and the leader, Blood Moon. Together, the three of them purged the city of the bad mob groups, the ones that kill people for fun, drive people into debt and all that jazz.

 

You may look at Ebott city and think that there’s quite a reasonable number of mobs that live in here, but many years back, almost every street was under a different gang. There was around 12 territories including the Corsicans, Lagusas, Corsicans and of course, us Galassions. Out of the 12, 6 or 7 of em’ were pretty ruthless.

 

One of the infamous rumors of their crimes was that all the victims of the mobs were thrown into  _ Morte _ to rot on the streets, mostly because that place is practically lawless and the government didn’t want anything to do with that area. That’s why it’s called that,  _ death _ , people go there to die from the unjust hands of the mobs.

 

Together, Blood Moon, Reaper and Queen steadily picked off the “evil” gangsters and soon, 6 groups were wiped out. The police found the dead bodies of the members with extensive crime records covered in slashes, stab wounds and blood all over their respective headquarters. I overheard from a couple of my buddies in the force that their seniors were so traumatised by the scene they took around a month off work. It was basically a massacre for justice, or so people called it.

  
A year or so after Blood Moon and gang appeared and after the 6 were cut down, the Asterixs were formed. The vigilante group was still, mildly active back then, finishing off other members, but it just died out one day and we haven’t heard any activity from then since.” Frederick sighs, looking towards the ceiling.

  
“I guess Lector thinks that Ms Luminari is Blood Moon because of the slight similarities of the timing and the little coincidences that pop up, plus he’s still pretty salty towards her for rising to power so quickly.”

  
“do you think she’s blood moon?” Sans leans forward onto the table

  
“And there’s the million dollar question… Maybe. There’s a very slim chance that she isn’t, but it’s still a possibility. I won’t try to look into it, if I were you. The Asterixs can be really terrifying when they need to be.” He says laughing uncomfortably.

 

“you scared of don asterix?” Sans quirks an eyebrow bone thing.

  
“No, not just her, I meant the whole family. Once I was sent on a mission with Sams and we were ambushed by 20 plus people from the Qing family. It was just the two of us so and they were blocking the exit so we had to take those bastards down before we could escape. I took out 5 while our dear Sammy on the other hand, completely wiped out the other 15. 

  
At the end of it I was like “Yoo, how come no one has talked about how strong you are?” And this bugger says “Because a dead people don’t talk much.” And I just looked at him like, well shit. Then he laughed and and told me that he didn’t need to fight often. But you could see it in his eyes, he was tell the truth, well, for both statements.

  
I found it pretty weird that a guy of his size could that strong and fight so well. Later down the road, i went drinking with Sams we were exchanging little family stories and when I asked him about where he learnt how to fight, he tells me that before anyone becomes an official member of the Asterix family, they are like trained with various weapons, especially a blade weapon by Ms Asterix or the other senior members of the Family. It’s like their raising a army of super fighters.”

 

Sans’ eye sockets darken as his eyelights disappear, creating a terrifying expression on his face. Fighters, blades,  _ knives _ . Memories of previous timelines flash in his head, the evil grin and crimson glint of blood on the kid’s knife and the shine in their creepy eyes. No. He won’t let that happen again. He is not going to watch Papyrus dust in front of him, not when they finally made it-

 

“H-hey man, you all right?” Frederick leans forward, holding out his hand. “Not sure what I said that spooked you, but I’m sorry.”

 

“its uh, its okay” Sans sweats as he wipes his forehead with a napkin.

 

“Like, I said. I wouldn’t try to sneak into the minds of the Asterix, I absolutely don’t want them on my bad side, especially Sams.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Luminari POV**

  
“HAAChoo!....Fuck.” Sams shivered as the sneeze rocked his body

 

“Y-you okay Mr Sams?” Timmy asked holding a short bokken. “Sound like a cold.”

 

“No, Im fine. Just got… snot in the inside of my mask… and my face, and it feels disgusting.” he replies pawing the carved smile on the mask.

 

By the side, Luminari is trying her best to hold in her laughter. Sams sees her grinning at him and throws the bokken at her. Luminari catches the flying wooden sword and twirls it in her hands. “You better clean the inside before you continue with Timmy, Sammy.” she says.

 

“Yeah.” he says before another sneeze erupts from him.

 

“Well, that is either a cold or someone is talking behind your back, Sams.” a new voice enters the training room.

 

A tall japanese woman dressed in a mix of pastel pink and dark magenta steps in. Her white hair done up in a bun held buy a pink box cutter while pink strips of hair on both sides of her face frame her features. By her side was a longsword, around a meter long tied to her waist securely, the pink scabbard covered in a intricate blossom design.

 

Luminari lights up when she enters. “Saika dear, welcome back! How was the escort?”

 

“It went smoothly Ms Lumi.” she replies, bowing curtly. Her gaze moves to the small boy holding the short bokken “Is this one new?”

 

“Ah yes, this is Timmy he was interested in working with the tantou so Sams took up training him while you were gone.” Luminari gestures for Timmy to approach them and gestures to Saika. “Timmy, this is Saika Akari. She will be training you from now on.”

 

“A-Akari? As in, the Japanese weapons mob Akari?” Timmy’s face pales.

 

Saika chuckles at his reaction and places a comforting hand on his head. “Yes, that’s right. So you better train properly or I’ll draw on your face.”

 

“Stop teasing him Saika, I’m going to check if Sams needs any help so  _ you _ train him properly while I’m gone.” Luminari says making her way to the door.

 

“ _ Ryokai _ boss. Come young Timmy, we can start by showing me what Sams had taught you by far.”

 

Luminari walks down the corridor to a door with a shiny metal plate with “Sams” engraved in the centre of it. She knocks rhymically on the wooden surface and waits for the door to be unlocked. The shifting of gears could be heard from the door knob as the person inside steps back, deeper into the room. 

 

Luminari turns the knob and enters swiftly, opening as little of a crack for her to enter and quickly close it. She knew that Sams felt self conscious of others seeing him without his mask and made sure that his face was out of the other’s sight as she enters his room. In the dim light, she could see that his mask was beside him on the bed, already cleaned. 

 

Luminari then turned to looked at his face. Deep red burn scars covered his lower half of his face as other scars could be seen that dragged across his features. The most prominent scar made its way from the bottom of his left jaw, through his lips and ending at the bottom of his right cheek bone.

 

Luminari sighs as she walks over to take a container from one of his table drawers. “You haven’t been applying the cream I gave you.” she scolds him.

 

“It takes to long to dry before I put the mask back on. And plus we’ve got so many things to take care of.” he complains, leaning back on his arms.

 

Luminari squints at him as she sits next to him on the bed, the mattress sinking slightly. “You need to take care of yourself before you worry about the others.” She says unscrewing the cap of the container, dipping her fingers into the soft cream before gently spreading it on his face. Sams hums in reply as he closes his eyes, enjoying the contact.

 

“I’m going out with the Serifs to the Vanero territory to talk with Vincent about the Whisk incident, hopefully we can do something about the Galassions.”

 

“Stay safe, call when you need any of us.” Sams murmurs as the cream is spread around his jaw.

 

“I need you to take care of yourselves, I’ll be fine. Just make sure the house isn’t on fire when I get back.” Sams flinches when she flicks his forehead.

 

“Heheh, no promises, mom.”


	11. Special Chapter: Birthday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little birthday celebration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! It's my birthday and I wanted to write something for this story so i changed things up abit and a special chapter came to mind. Its a more reader insert focused story. it may or may not be cannon (just trying things out~). So if you like these special chapters I might continue writing these chapters for special events!

You stretch as you roll yourself out of the comfort of your bed. It’s someone’s special day of course. Though, birthdays weren’t really of priority and importance when you lived in a tiny apartment by yourself, working 3 low paying jobs at a time to just scrape by. You bought yourself a little gift or a slice of cake when the day came, but other than that, no one else remembered your birthday.

 

But times have changed, a friendly don found you one rainy day having a meltdown at the bus stop and offered you a job. And this is where you are now. You’ve been a part of the Asterix family for a while, it’s been more than a year since her confirmation and test. You didn’t really celebrate your birthday last year as you were more focused about training and must have forgotten, but this year, you had a convenient day off, free time and money to spoil yourself with.

 

“Y/N, you in there?” a voice called from behind the door. As the days passed and missions assigned to you, you’ve made many close friends with your colleagues, getting to know them better when you get paired up with them on patrol or work together on missions. There was one in particular that became your first best friend in a long time.

 

“Come in!” you replied. The door opened and a casually dressed man walks in. He was taller than average and had bright yellow hair that was styled into 2 flat angles at the top of his hair and equally bright yellow eyes that always held a boyish glimmer within them. He had some stubble lining his chin, probably didn’t bother to shave today. His build was also nothing to be laughed at. All the training and fighting filled out his button up shirt to the point where his sleeves almost looked like they were squeezing his arms. You’ll probably take him to go clothes shopping with you one day.

 

The tall blonde bounced into your room and draped his torso over you as you sat in front of your vanity, applying a thin layer of make-up before you left. “Someone looks nice today.” His weight pushed you down as you desperately tried to push the heavy wall of muscle away so that you can continue with your makeup. You tsked as you waved the eyeliner threateningly at his eye as he retracted away. “Can’t I have a little self indulgence on my birthday, Leo?” 

 

His eyes widened as he held a cheeky smile on his lips “Oh yeah it’s today! Hey, it’s your day off too right? Wanna go have fun together?”

 

You looked at his reflection in the mirror and huff “I want lunch at Grillby’s. Heard he gives people a special meal on their birthdays.”   
  
“He does! To Grillby’s we go!” Leo poses as he points to your door. He holds the pose until you grabbed your bag and smacked him with it to knock it off.

 

The two of you arrived at the speakeasy, the bell chiming announcing your presence. The familiar waitress/ singer waves at the both of you as you find a seat at the bar. “Grillby, my man! How are you on this fine afternoon.” Leo greets the blue flame monster.

 

Grillby blinks at his sudden greeting. “Fine thank you. How are things with the two of you?”

 

“Where good buddy. Say, someone told me you give special birthday meals to people.”

 

“Your birthday was 4 months ago, Leo.” Grillby sets the shot glass he was polishing down and picks up another.

 

“True, but her’s is today.” Leo drapes an arm over your shoulder smiling.

 

The white flames of Grillby’s eyes widened as he looked at you. You blush slightly from all the attention directed at you, contemplating on hiding your face. “Come to think about it, we never knew your birthday, Y/N dear.” Grillby says.   
  
“I never told anyone and I uh, always celebrate it by myself.” you reply sheepishly.

 

“Well that’s going to change from today onwards!” Verona sits beside you. “We’re going to throw you a party just you wait!”

 

“After your job Verona.” Grillby reminds her as she sticks her tongue out at him. “In the meantime, you’re going to have your first special meal, on the house. And I assume Leo wants his usual?”

 

“Really?” Grillby nods as he starts preparing in the kitchen.

 

“Woo boy! You’re gonna love it! So what do you want to do later?” Leo and you start talking about your plans to spend your day off as the both of you waited for your lunch. Grillby soon pops his head out from the kitchen door and signals at Verona.

 

She nods and makes her way to the stage. “Test, test~ Hey, how is everybody doing this afternoon? I would just like to dedicate a little song to one of our special stars that we know, Y/N this one’s for you.”

 

Grillby comes out of the kitchen with your usual dish with a sparkler on a cork at the side and a simple parfait on the same tray. 

 

_ “Happy birthday to you, _

 

_ Happy birthday to you. _

 

_ Happy birthday dear Y/N, _

 

_ Happy birthday to you~” _

 

The room applauds at Grillby sets the tray down in front of you. You’re smiling like an idiot as you bathe in the small celebration. “Eat it before the Leo steals the parfait.” Grillby says smacking Leo’s straying hands away from the dessert.

 

You laugh, thanking him as you dig into the meal. It’s your regular, favourite dish of Grillby’s but today it just tastes so much better (must be the sparkler). After your meal, the two of you leave to just spend time having fun. You helped Leo find bigger shirts and he bought you some accessories that you were eyeing as a present.

 

The sun started to set as both of you made your way back to the house. Some of the windows around the living area were dark. “You think anyone else knows?” Leo asks.

 

“... Nah. I never planned on telling anyone or expected a big celebration, and plus, its okay. I had a fun time today.” You say stepping into the dark living room.

 

“If you say so. Oh yeah, I bought you another thing in the dining room.” Leo says leading you to the door.

 

“What did you get now?” You sigh, remembering that one time he surprised you with a live chicken.

 

“You’ll see~ open the door!” 

 

You surrender to his excitement and turn the knob to the dining room. A loud pop jolted you back into Leo’s frame as confetti floated down onto the floor.

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N!”

 

The room was filled with all your colleagues or “family members” the walls were decorated with streamers as the table was set for a stunning dinner for everyone. The crowd parts, making way for your boss as the tall female approaches the both of you.

 

You quickly straighten yourself up and enter the room. “Happy birthday Y/N, I wanted to give this to you on your first year with us but we sadly missed it.” Don Asterix holds out a small box, decorated with a f/c bow.

 

“Y-you shouldn’t have.” you say hesitantly receiving the gift. You could feel the familiar sensation on your nose as tears build up in your eyes.

 

“But I did.” She says pulling you into a warm hug. “We all did.” The room cheers as she releases you. “Now let’s enjoy dinner, shall we?”

 

The party continues with everyone sitting around the different tables singing happy birthday to you followed by you cutting the large cake they ordered from Muffet’s bakery and serving it to your friends and family. 

 

In your room, after you’ve bathed and settled down on your bed after the excitement of the day, you take the little present that Ms Luminari gave you and slowly undid the bow. You opened the box to reveal a silver six sided asterisk star with a small diamond in the centre. You remembered seeing this pin on a number of your colleague's. Its either on their suit as a brooch, a sleeve cuff, an earring and some of your female friends put it in their hair.

 

The star of the Asterixs, a place in the family, you relish in the warm feeling of a home and people that you enjoyed returning to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to follow my tumblr for updates and art!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/komaxkoma


	12. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Kyari play 20 questions

“Are you busy Chris?” Kyari peaks her head into the pantry where her only employee is making himself a cup of coffee.

 

“Not at the moment, why?” He says taking a sip of the piping hot brown liquid.

 

“I might need you to man the front for a while, I have a guest coming over.” she says walking back to her office.

 

Chris follows her in and sits on the sofa. “A gentleman guest?” he moves his eyebrows up and down teasingly.

 

“Oh please, Chris. The both of us know that I don’t have time for that. Though he  _ is _ a  gentleman.”

 

“None the less Ms Kyari, you need to live a little. Go out. Go grab drinks with your friends.”

 

“Hey, I go out from time to time and my private business is not of your concern!” Kyari huffs.

 

At that moment, the bell at the door chimes, announcing the arrival of someone. Chris shoots up from his seat, moving to greet the person before knocking his shin against the low table, the half full coffee up rocking dangerously back and forth threatening to fall over. He yelps and lands back down on the sofa hissing and holding his shin

 

“HELLO? MISS KYARI? I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME TO VISIT.”   
  
“The great Papyrus? That’s a egoistical way to introduce yourself.” he winces rubbing his leg.

 

“Hey, be nice.” Kyari’s eyes narrowed at him. “I’m in here Papyrus! The room to the left.” she calls out

 

Soon the door knob rattles and opens to reveal the smartly dressed smiling skeleton. Chris almost jumps out of his seat when Papyrus steps into the room, almost hitting his head against the low ceiling.

 

“Woah-ly shit, is a fucking skeleton.” Chris grips the armrests of his chair.

 

“Language. And yes, Chris, Papyrus is a skeleton monster.” Kyari scolds him, moving away from her table.

 

“GREETINGS HUMAN, I DON’T THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE. I’M PAPYRUS.” Papyrus greets, holding out his skeletal hand.

 

“Uh yeah. The names Christopher, but you can call me Chris. I work for Miss Kyari around here.” He says hesitantly taking his hand. But once both hand meet, Papyrus gave him a firm handshake grinning brightly.

 

“It’s good to see you again Papyrus, come sit down so we can talk. Any tea or snacks for you? We’ve got butter cookies.”

 

“I’LL HAVE THE COOKIES PLEASE.” 

 

Chris moves off his seat quickly. “I got it. I’m going to man the front anyways.”

 

“Thank you Chris, I’ll have my usual.” she says as the door closes behind him. 

 

Kyari looks back to Papyrus to see him looking around the room, taking in the cozy atmosphere. “This is my office and consultation room. I usually do my work over here and when there are clients that come in, I bring them here for consultation.”

 

“I SEE. ITS VERY, COZY.” he looks back to Kyari who has taken a seat opposite him.

 

“Thank you, i try to make it as comfortable as possible for the people that come here. Now, I’m sure you're here to ask me some question about humans?”

 

“YES! I HAVE THOUGHT OF A FEW, BUT I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS TOO MISS KYARI.”

 

The door opens and Chris comes in with a tray. A pleasant smell wafts through the room as he enters. “Here’s the cookies and tea, enjoy. I’ll be outside if you need me.”

 

“Thank you Chris.”

 

“THANK YOU.”   
  
Kyari cradles her cup of tea in her hands feeling the warmth. “Now about our question, hmm.... Ah, how about we play 20 questions?”   
  
Papyrus tilts his head to the side “HOW DO YOU PLAY THAT?”

 

“Well we take turns asking each other one question and we have to answer it before it’s our turn. I can start first as an example. What’s your favourite colour?”

 

“ORANGE.” Papyrus eyes light up. “I GUESS ITS MY TURN THEN, WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR?” he asks taking a bite of a butter cookie

 

“Pink!” Kyari smiles, pointing to the pink flower pin in her hair. 

 

They exchange even more questions about each other’s different cultures and the different cuisines that Kyari recommends to Papyrus when he asks about food. Kyari watches as he slowly empties the plate of cookies into his boney jaws. And as a person of science and curiosity, she can’t help but wonder where did all those cookies go. Good thing its part of the game to ask questions.

 

“How do you eat, like where does the food go?” she asks.

 

“AH, IT BECOMES MAGIC. WHATEVER WE MONSTERS CONSUME TURNS INTO MAGIC THAT FUELS OUR BODIES.” he says taking a bite out of the last cookie   
  
“So, like it just turns into magic when you bite into it?”   
  
“I SUPPOSE YOU CAN SAY THAT. IS IT ANY DIFFERENT WHEN HUMANS EAT?”   
  
“ _ Very _ . When humans eat anything, we first turn it into mush by chewing. The mush is then digested in our stomach which breaks down the food mush further. It’s then absorbed into our bodies and whatever we do not need or cannot digest is passed out as poop.”

 

Papyrus blinks for a moment, trying to  _ digest _ the information “SOUNDS COMPLICATED.” he says finally.

 

“It is. Some people even have allergies to some foods like peanuts and shellfish and can’t eat them or their bodies might react to them, one client died because they ate peanuts.”

 

“WOAH, HUMANS ARE SO WEIRD”

 

“Yeah, tell me about it. It’s your turn now.”

 

“AH RIGHT, I’LL HAVE TO GO SOON SO WE MAKE THIS OUR LAST ROUND OF QUESTIONS. UM, I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT FOR WHILE, WHY DO HUMANS HAVE HAIR ON THEIR HEADS AND LESS ON THE REST OF THEIR BODIES?”

 

“That, is a very good question Papyrus! Humans like all mammals are warm blooded and we like our body temperatures to not go too high or too low than our normal temperatures. Hair helps keep our bodies warm by trapping a layer of heat around our skin. The thicker the hair, the more heat is trapped. I guess I evolution happened or something that allowed us to have more hair in specific areas like the top of our heads, maybe to keep our heads warm. Other places where the hair is denser includes the armpits and the private areas of a human.”

 

“HMM, I SEE. UM, I’VE ALSO BEEN MEANING TO ASK…” a light orange glow dusted his cheek bones as he scratched the back of his vertebrae

 

“Yes?” Kyari blinks at the the sudden appearance of colour on his ivory complexion. Is he, blushing?

 

“CAN - CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?” His cheekbones light up further as he shoulders tense up and he looks away from her.

 

‘Holy crap, that’s adorable.’ Her eyes and grin widen. “Sure”. Kyari moves from her seat opposite Papyrus to sit next to him on his side of the table. His eye sockets follow her as she sits beside him. Kyari parts a section of her shoulder length hair and holds it out for Papyrus. He hesitantly takes the handful of hair in her hand, his eye sockets doubling in size.

 

“Its So Smooth.” He gasps, collecting more strands of hair in between his phalanges. He brings his other hand to join the other in her dark locks.

 

Kyari giggles, turning her head away allowing him more access to her hair. “Washed and conditioned daily. I like to take care of my hair.” 

 

“It’s Nothing Like The King Asgore’s Fur. His Is More Rough. Very Fluffy Yes, But Not As Smooth And Soft As Your Hair! Its Like I’m Touching Silk At This Point.” Papyrus comments, focusing on the shiny locks like they were the most precious artifact that he had discovered. Her cheeks darken ever so slightly under the attention that Papyrus was giving her, or her hair.

 

After a few more moments of hair admiration he clears his non existent throat and reluctantly removes his hands from her hair. “AHEM, THANK YOU MISS KYARI. IT’S NOT EVERYDAY THAT I AM ABLE TO FEEL HAIR, ESPECIALLY SINCE I DON’T HAVE ANY, NYEHEHEH.” Papyrus laughs it off.   
  
“Pft, I can see that. I suppose it’s my last question now. Um, how exactly does your body hold itself together? Like, humans have skeletons inside of them but is more like a structure that's held together by many muscles that also move the body, but you’re just, bone.”   
  
“NYEHEHEH, I’M GLAD YOU ASKED MISS KYARI. US SKELETON MONSTERS HAVE A HIGHER RATIO OF MAGIC TO DUST, OUR BONES THAT YOU SEE ARE ALL CONNECTED BY OUR MAGIC. IF I REMOVE MY HAND-” Papyrus detaches his ulna and radius  from his radius in his sleeve and pulls the arm out. “-I CAN STILL MOVE AND FEEL THROUGH IT BECAUSE MY MAGIC IS STILL CONNECTED TO IT. THOUGHT IT DOES FEEL SLIGHTLY WEIRD SINCE MY BONES ARE FURTHER AWAY FROM MY SOUL.” He wiggles his phalanges.

 

“Woah, that’s so cool!” Kyari’s eyes glitter as Papyrus tries to fit in forearm back into place.

 

“NYEHEHE, I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO MISS KYARI.” his bones lock into place and he check the time on his watch. “AH I MUST BE GOING, MY FAMILY AND MS LUMINARI ARE WAITING FOR ME.”   
  
“Going for another tour around the neighbourhood?”

 

“LESS TOUR AND MORE BUSINESS… IT’S ABOUT THE WHISK ATTACK.” he grabs his fedora that he left on the table.

 

“I see, stay safe then. I hope it goes well”

 

“SO DO I MISS KYARI. THANK YOU FOR PLAYING 20 QUESTIONS WITH ME, I’VE LEARNT A LOT!”

 

“Me too, Papyrus. Till next time then.” Kyari see him out and waves him goodbye before turning back to the parlour.

 

* * *

 

On the other side of the city, Sans goes makes his way to Grillby’s...


	13. Special Chapter: Valentine's Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
> 
> Little Valentine's day one shots with the main three <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you! Yes, you reader. Are you having a good Valentine's day? Well I hope you are! Even if you don't have anyone to spend it with spend it with yourself! Love your beautiful self to the ends of the earth (cause you're stuck with yourself till the end of the earth). Buy your self chocolates, buy your friends chocolates to tell them you love them too! (there was a sale on Hello Panda biscuits and i ended up buying 10 boxes...)
> 
> Any who, enjoy today's special Valentine's day chapter!!
> 
> (also do tell me what you think about the fic and anything really, i love to read your comments! <3)

Kyari and Papyrus

Kyari was managing the front of the parlour, keeping herself busy dusting the items on teh display shelf and making sure everything is in order. Chris was out spending time with his partner on this _lovely_ day.

 

It was Valentines and like every year, she spent it alone. She never really thought of finding someone in Ebott City to her Valentine, they’re usually scared off by her job. So here she was, alone in the shop until her dear friends whisk her off to spend the night drinking their single butts off.

 

The doorbell chimes and kyari turns to the door to see Papyrus. “GOOD DAY MS KYARI!.”

 

“Papyrus, what brings you here?” she asks, putting the duster down to greet him.

 

“I DECIDED TO VISIT YOU TODAY. I HEARD FROM THE BAKER HUMAN THAT TODAY WAS APPARENTLY A SPECIAL DAY WHERE HUMANS GIFT SOMEONE THEY ADMIRE WITH FLOWERS OR SOME CHOCOLATE. I THOUGHT THAT SINCE YOU HAVE THOUGHT ME SO MUCH ABOUT HUMANS AND BECOME MY FRIEND I DECIDED THAT I SHALL GIVE YOU A GIFT AS WELL, BECAUSE I ADMIRE YOU!” He presents her cute box of chocolates and gives his winning grin. His cheek bones were slightly dusted in orange but the day light hid it.

 

“P-papyrus you shouldn’t have.” Kyari blushes as she hesitantly takes the box. She couldn’t bare to refuse it, its free chocolate, and its from _Papyrus_.

 

“NYEHEHEH, BUT I DID! NOW WHAT WAS THE NAME THAT HUMANS SAID TODAY WAS?”

 

Kyari smiles, thumbing the cover of the box. “Its Valentine’s day.”

 

* * *

 

 

Verona and Sans

 

Verona finishes her last love song request of the day and steps off the stage to change into a more comfortable attire. Today she only had entertaining duties, and it was filled with requests from the patrons asking her to sing their special songs and such.

 

It’s been a long time since she spent Valentines day with anyone special, not including her favourite single drinking buddies that would probably continue their tradition later that evening.

 

Verona comes out of the bathroom and joins the dogs at their table. She sees Dogaressa and Dogmany rubbing noses with each other. “Well, someone’s enjoying Valentine’s day.” Verona says, taking a seat across them.

 

“Why yes we are! Today-” Dogaressa turns to Verona

 

“Is the first human celebration that we heard of ever since-” Dogmany continue

 

“The barrier broke-”

 

“And it’s our favourite one!” they say together

 

Verona smiles at their overly sweet interaction with each other. “Well, I’m glad both of you enjoy human traditions.”

 

“What about you Verona? Don’t you-” Dogama asks

 

“Have someone to spend Valentine’s day with?” Dogaressa finishes, eyes twinkling at her.

 

Verona sighs. “Nah, not me. I fine on my own. Though, I wouldn’t mind if someone gave me free food today.”

 

“is that so?”

 

Verona jumped from her seat and sees Sans standing behind her with his hands in his pockets, with a smug grin on his face. “Holy shit, don’t do that… you almost made me _jump out of my skin_.” She smiles at her own pun.

 

Sans snorts a laugher while the rest of the table groans “Did you really try to think of a pun just now?” Doggo asks.

 

“I see an opportunity, and I take it.”

 

“more like you _jump_ on it.” Sans adds. “so, i heard you won’t mind being treated to free food?”

 

“I suppose I did, why suddenly so interested?”

 

“my bro told me to get a doll something for valentine’s days, and i remember one songbird in particular appreciates grillby’s food as much as i do, do why not treat her for lunch?” he says

 

“Aw, that’s sweet Sans, thanks… wait how are you paying?”

 

“I’m putting on my-” Sans winks, closing one of his eye sockets.

 

“No, you are not. Then it’s Grillby who’s treating me to lunch, bone boy.” Verona says raising her eyebrow

 

“heh, I guess he is.”

 

“Hey!” Grillby squints at Sans from opposite the bar top as Verona stifles a laugher.

 

* * *

 

 

Luminari and Gaster

 

As Luminari was about to leave for the evening, she hears a knock on her door. No follow up on who it was but just silence after the knock. She cracks opens the door and sees that there was no one there. Luminari opens the door fully and looks around the empty hallway, searching for the supposed person that knocked on the door.

 

As she steps back to close the door, she sees a pile of red on the floor. Looking down, Luminari is greeted by a bouquet of red roses and a note attached to it. She picks up the note and reads the neatly calligraphed letter.

 

“ **Dear Luminari,**

**I heard from Papyrus that today was a special day for humans to gift each other flowers and/ or chocolates to express their appreciation for them. I heard red roses were a popular Valentine’s day gift to symbolise respect, admiration and devotion, so I got this as a gift for you as thanks for all you have done for my family and I. I hope you enjoy the rest of Valentines day.**

**Sincerely,**

**W.D Gaster.** ”

 

Luminari smiles and picks up the bouquet of roses. She takes a deep breath in, filling her nose with the scent of the flower. Satisfies, she goes down to the kitchen to place the flowers in an empty vase.

 

Jaws sees her with the bouquet entering the kitchen. “Who’s that from?” he asks.

 

“Don Gaster sent to express his _respect_ and _admiration_.” Luminari says filling the vase with water. “It was Papyrus’ idea.”

 

Jaws lets out a breath of air through his nose “I don’t think he did much research about today, did he.”

 

“Oh, he did enough. The gesture is always appreciated” Luminari cradles a rose in her palm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

00000000000___________000000000000  
00000000_____00000___000000___0000000  
0000000_____________000______________00000  
0000000_______________0___________________0000  
000000_______________________________________0000  
00000_______________________________________ 0000  
00000_______________________________________00000  
00000______________________________________000000  
000000_________________________________0000000  
0000000______________________________0000000  
000000____________________________000000  
000000________________________000000  
00000_____________________0000  
0000_________________0000  
0000_____________000  
000_________000  
000_____00  
00__00  
00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey, um, ⬛⬛⬛⬛?”

  
You turn around to face your friend. “Yeah,⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛?”

 

His cheeks were dusted with the hue of his magic as he held his hands behind his back. You looked at him slightly confused at his manner as he shifted nervously.

 

“Um, I found this flower for you and um, and I uh, thought you might like it.” He takes a (f/c) flower out from behind its back and presents it to you. Its petals had the most extraordinary designs on it as the flower held a soft glow of magic around it. You stood there wide eyed in awe as you admired the beauty of your friend’s gift.

 

“Where did you find something like this?” you asked

 

He rubs his neck and blushes even further “I uh, stubbled across it in the underground.”

 

You tackle him in a hug “Thank you! Its so beautiful I can’t explain how much I love you right now.”

 

His face practically lights up in colour as he had no idea what to say or do with his arms. You were hugging his torso and his arms were well, hovering over you. A smile slowly spreads across his features

 

“Me too, ⬛⬛⬛⬛. Me too.”


	14. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Judge vs The Best Liar vs The hot Bartender, winner takes all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there good people of the world! Sorry for not updating an actual chapter for such long time, I've been putting it off for a while but I finally finished it!
> 
> The chapter was mainly inspired by the song "Gambling Man by The Overtones" and I used it in the chapter as well so so give it a listen when the song appears! (its a really good song)
> 
> i hope ya'll enjoy this chapter and comments are always welcome!
> 
> if you want you can drop some questions down below (about the fic or anything really) and I'll answer them!

After that talk with Frederick yesterday, it only pushed Sans on to find out more about this Blood Moon vigilante and company. If they were still around, if Blood Moon was actually Luminari Asterix, he had to warn Gaster. He didn’t want another _ bad ending _ . 

 

Sans makes his way to Grillby’s to perhaps talk with a particular song bird. She did mention the she was in a gang at one point of time and she is a close friend to the Don Asterix, maybe she could tell him something about the notorious Blood Moon.

 

It was around noon when Sans reached Grillby’s, he was going to go with Gaster, Papyrus and Don Asterix later that evening to talk to Don Vanero about the Whisk incident. Might as well make use of his time.

 

When he enters the speakeasy, the room erupted in a mixture of cheers and groans as majority of the monsters were crowding around a single table. He makes his way over to Grillby’s at the bar top and sits on his usual stood. “what’s up Grillbz? the bar hasn’t been this eventful in a while” he says.

 

“Verona and the dogs were playing a game. Apparently, Verona keeps winning and the other customers have formed a betting system between Verona and who ever she’s playing with. It keeps the drinks flowing, and plus its her break so I let her do whatever.” he replies polishing a whiskey glass.

 

A charming laughter echoes from the table as Sans could see Verona thanks her opponent for the game. He moves to the table, request in mind.

 

“Hey there boneboy, come to play a game?” she says turning to him from her seat.

 

“Actually, I want to ask you something, maybe in private, doll.” Sans replies

 

Verona raises a single eyebrow as she inspects his expression. “Ooh? A top secret important question is it?”

 

Verona collects the cards on the table and starts to shuffle. “Well, as I’ve learnt a long time ago, in this world, nothing is free. So, I want you to play for your question.” she taps bottom of the collected deck on the table.

 

“play for the question?” Sans asks. He was slightly amused and curious on what might be installed in this game.

 

“Yep” Verona pops the “p” sound. “Who ever wins, can request anything of the loser. Ask them to do anything, you can ask me your touchy burning question and I’ll answer truthfully and I can make you do anything I ask. The stakes are just that high.” she sings.

 

“alright, deal.” Sans says taking a seat at the round table. More monsters start to gather around the two of them.

 

“Great, now we just need a suitable game to play. Any suggestions?” she turns to the monsters crowded around.

 

They murmur among themselves discussing what is a good game for the two of them to play. “What about the Liar Game?” the toothy plant monster suggests from the side.

 

“Oh yeah, the judge versus the the best bluff!” the female bird monsters pipes up. The rest of the monsters voice in agreement.

 

“the best bluff?” Sans raises an eyebrow bone thing at Verona.   
  


“That’s what they like to call me I guess.” she shrugs in response.

 

“That’s because you beat everyone you play against!” Doggo exclaims.

 

“If you say so~ but Bluff can’t be played with only two people… Grillby come play with us!” Verona yells at the fiery bar keep.

 

“What’s in it for me? I already pay you to do whatever I need you to do.” he says monotonously

 

“You get to have Sans pay his tab off~” she sings at him.

 

Sans immediately tenses up at the mention of his tab. His long, endless tab. Grillby’s flame flickers for a moment as he slowly places his polishing cloth and whiskey glass down. “His… Tab?” he voice crackles like burning firewood.

 

“Or anything you want the losers to do, winner takes all.” she shrugs, splitting the deck into two to shuffle it.

 

“Count me the fuck in!” The blue flame monster vaults over his bar top and grabs a chair to sit into. The monsters cheer even louder when the usually silent bartender joins the game.

 

“It’s the game of the century! The judge vs the best liar vs the hot bartender! Who will win the odds!” a monster yells excitedly, rallying in even more monsters to the little gathering. Some even have started betting on who was going to win.

 

“Alright, alright boys,” Verona starts skillfully shuffling the cards like she was putting on a magic show. “The stakes are high and up for grabs by one winner. The winner can ask the other two losers to do anything, and I mean anything, so watch your backs and watch your cards cause things are about to get exciting!

 

The game we are playing is called many names, BS, Cheat, Bluff, Liar Game, but it has only one objective, finish the cards in your hand without getting caught. For the people that haven’t seen this game before, here are the rules. The person that starts can put down any card they want and in any quantity faced down. For example, one card is put down and the face or number is a 3 so you say “1 three”. The next player can either put down a card with a face that is lower by one, higher by one or the same face. However, if you don’t have the card or you wish to simply play card, you can bluff by putting down a card that is not any of the three criterias. Hence, lying or bluffing in the game. 

 

But if you get caught “cheating”, you have to take the entire discarded pile of cards and add it to your hand. Same goes for an instance when you accuse a person wrongly. There are only 4 of each face in a deck of cards so listen carefully.”

 

Verona finishes thoroughly shuffling through the deck and starts giving the cards out. “To make it a fair game. I wish for all spectators to not look at our cards and only at the table, in case any of your expressions give any of us away. Players should also try to conceal your cards. Any questions?” she asks. Silence greets her and she smiles.

 

“Well let the games begin, Sans if you would like to start first.”

 

“okie, 1 Ace” he says putting down a card.

 

“Now it’s Grillby’s turn.” she says

 

“1 Two. I’m going to get your tab.” Grillby puts down a card.

 

Verona chuckles as she continues the game. The game goes on for awhile as it gets more intense. So far, Grillby and Sans have been caught bluffing once and Grillby has the largest hand at the moment. Sans has been watching the other two intently, tempted to use his judge skill to check their SOULS if they were lying or not. Verona had the smallest hand out of the three and she looked very confident in herself. Sans finally crumbles under his own pressure and checks her when she put down a card on her turn.

 

 ** _“Things are going well for her”_** is what it read.

 

Whenever a human or monster lied, their SOUL would give off a flicker, a signal of insecurity that they know that they are lying. Sans was practically a walking lie detector, so winning this game of “Lying” should be easy right? Just catch the liar? No, it was not. And it was clear that Verona was going to win.

 

At one point of time, the dog band started an impromptu acapella with Verona leading and playing at the same time. Sans couldn’t recognise the song but he felt like she had something up her sleeve.

 

Dogerassa and Dogamy started it off

**“Place your bets ladies and gentlemen-** **  
** **“-Place your bets”**

 

Verona starts singing a rift and the crowd erupts at the sudden performance.

 

**“** **I met you once, I loved you twice**

**That's the way this tale begins**

**I played my hand, I rolled the dice**

**Now I'm paying for my sins**

**I got some bad addiction**

**Baby, it's you, yeah, yeah, that's right**

**And I feel you taking over me**

**Could luck be a lady in here tonight”**

 

“1 Queen” she says breaking away form the song before going straight back in.

 

**“My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all**

**My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all”**

 

**“Baby, I'd lose it all”** Doggo sings the bass notes

 

**“Baby~”** Verona’s honey like voice carries the lyric like never San’s heard before. Its sends a tremor through his SOUL but he brushes it off as he tries his best to focus on the game, is tab is on the line!

 

“1 Queen” she says putting down her card.

 

She looks at the other two to see if they were going to accuse her. None of them say anything and Sans puts down his card “1 queen.”

 

**“Oh could you be the queen of hearts**

**Or the devil in disguise with every move**

**I'm blinded by those diamonds in her eyes**

**I got some bad addiction**

**Baby, it's you, yeah, yeah, that's right**

**And I feel you taking over me**

**Could luck be a lady in here tonight”**

 

“1 Queen” she puts down a card.

 

At this point of time she is down to her last card and Sans is getting really suspicious of her so he checks her again.

 

**_“The odds are in her favour, there is no lie.”_ **

 

Her SOUL glows normally, no flicker to indicate that she was lying or if she was lying for the past few rounds. All the supposed Queens in the deck have been discarded in the pile. Sans puts down his card “1 king”

 

**“My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all"**

 

Grillby puts down his card similar to Sans “1 King.”

 

**"My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all”**

**"Baby, I'd lose it all"**

 

“1 Queen” she says putting down her final card.

 

‘wait what?’ Sans looks at the discarded card in the pile. ‘It has to be a trick’. If it’s a bluff card and he lets her go, she wins but if he catches her, he wins. 

 

**“I'm captured in your sweet lovin'**

**But it feels just like a curse**

**You're beneath my skin, I start tremblin'**

**With this love so dangerous**

**I want you, why don't you, just place your bets”**

 

**“Place your bets, just place your bets”** the dogs echo softly as they wait for sans’ turn to put down his card.

 

Sans CHECKS her for the last time.   
  
**_“Don’t turn the card over, she doesn’t want you to check.”_ **

 

His skull whips to look at Verona who was avoiding his gaze, she’s hiding from him. He could also see the soft fluttering of the aura around her SOUL, a clear indication that she was lying. “Bluff!” he exclaims.

 

Suddenly, the check status shifts and changes.

 

_**“You loose”** _

 

His eye sockets widened as Verona continues singing  **“Just place - your - bets - on, Me!”**

 

The card is flipped over to reveal the Queen of Hearts. It wasn’t a bluff. The crowd explodes in cheer as Verona continues singing. She pumps her fist in the air as a victory pose as she belts the lyrics.

 

**“My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all**

**My odds are stacked**

**I've never been a gambling man**

**I've never had the winning hand**

**But for you I'd lose it all, yeah, but for you, I'd lose it all”**

 

Applause and cheers fills the speakeasy when the finish, Grillby sinks into his chair, head leaning over the back of the chair as he waits for his employee to dish out their wish. Sans on the other hand stares at the flipped over Queen of Hearts on the table in shock and defeat.

 

He was very sure that she had lied. Her SOUL told him she was lying, and the CHECK status was clearly indicating that she was. But how? The sudden change of the CHECK status was nothing like he’s ever witnessed before, you can’t just change your true feelings just like that. And the SOUL checking never failed him. So how was she able to lie?

 

How many times has she lied and gotten away with it when it happened right under his nose cavity? Before he could check the pile of cards for answers, Verona grabs both his and the rest of the crowd’s attention.

 

“Alright, according to the deal we made, both of you have to do whatever I want if I’m not wrong” she say standing from her seat. The chair groaning across the wooden floor as she does. 

 

Verona struts over to Sans’ chair and dances her fingers over the shoulder pads of his dark blue blazer as she stops at the other side of him. Resting her weight on one leg, she tilts his skull up to face her with her other hand. “And I don’t suppose your going to back out on our deal, hmm?” she coos

 

Sans’ face is clearly lit up in his cyan magic as he tries to look off to the side, avoiding her intense gaze. A shiver goes down his spine as he is forced to face her lidded eyes that were currently giving him a predatorial look. “i- uh- heh. no.” he stammers 

 

“Excellent, because I’m gonna to enjoy what I have in mind for you.” she leans down to whisper the last part. Sans’ skull is practically steaming under all the pressure as he grips the base of his chair in anticipation.

 

“I want you~” her finger moves from his chin to his chest.

 

“To pay your tab.” she finishes with a innocent grin.

 

Sans’ eye lights disappear into his eye sockets as the entire bar erupts into an even louder cheer. Some of them are crying and laughing at the same time. Grillby shoots up from his chair, head a blaze and punching the air yelling “YES!”.

 

“Ahahaah YES! That’s our girl.” The fire elemental yells moving over to give her a hug.

 

“And from you,” she turns to him, stopping him in his tracks. “I want a raise.” she says with a mischievous smile.

 

“Shit…” Grillby’s flames lowers its intensity, but he perks up again. “His tab’ll be your raise!” He says pointing to the emotionless shell of a skeleton monster.

 

“Works for me!” She replies. The crowd slowly disperses as some approach Verona to congratulate her and give a sympathetic pat on the back to Sans.

 

“you’ve ruined me, doll.” He tilts his head back, dramatically acting like he was dying.

 

“Oh don’t be like that. The stakes were high… but to be fair i guess your’s were higher. I tell you what, I’ll let you ask your pressing question.” Verona says taking a seat next to him, gathering up the cards and starts to shuffle them.

 

“really?” his eye lights return as he looks at her from the corner of his eye socket.

 

“Yes, now shoot before I change my mind.”

 

Sans straightens his back and faces her. He clears his non existent throat before continuing with a more serious look on his face. “what do you know about blood moon?”

 

Her eyes widened as her hands freeze mid shuffle. Verona’s demeanour takes a 180 shift as her eyes darken and her lips turn into an uncomfortable frown. “You shouldn’t say that name so loosely, Sans” she warns.

 

“i just need to know what you know about them. the galassion with a stick shoved up his ass called don asterix blood moon, and from what I’ve heard, their supposed to be this mass murderin vigilante. I know you’re friends with the don but i need to know what and who to believe.”

 

“Well obviously not the Galassions, Lector just has an unchecked anger management issue and a loose cannon of a face hole.” She scoffs. Verona sighs through her nose as she puts the cards down. 

 

“Blood Moon was a vigilante of a sorts yes, killing off the more violent and unjust gangs. They would strike in the night when the clouds covered the sky and when they parted and the moon light shown down, you could only see a blood red moon reflected on the ground. That’s where the name came from, ever since the first massacre and the many that followed. Some say that they had a list of blacklisted names and went after their lives for the sake of justice.

 

Lector calls Lumi that cause he is just mad at how she has more influence than him, just pure jealousy really. Lumi would never do such a thing, not with her family to take care of.” Verona finishes.

 

“then what do you know about the other two?” sans asks.

 

“What other two?” she asks.

 

“never mind, thanks.... and no thanks for the tab” he grumbles.

 

Verona laughs at him “Good luck on that boneboy, and thanks for the raise!” she says as Sans gets up from his chair to get a drink.

 

Sans moves to take a seat at the bar as he thought back to the conversation he just had

 

...Her SOUL flickered


	15. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit just went down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hooooooo! sorry for not posting in such a long time! I had abit of a writer's block and I really had no idea how to keep writing but I'm back!
> 
> this chapter is probably going to open up the story a lot so uh enjoy I guess?

**Unknown POV**

 

**_“If ever anyone of those sniveling freaks even touches our streets, kill them on sight”_ **

**_“No one is getting paid until I see a corpse of a monster”_ **

 

“Heh, I’ll do ya one up boss.” the man checks his equipment and locks the case with a resounding click.

 

“I’ll take one of those freaks out and I’ll be rolling in the greens, maybe even a promotion!” he sings to himself.

 

He picks up his case and sings a joyful tune as he leaves the house.

 

* * *

 

**Luminari POV**

 

The don was seated at a cafe, siping a cup of ice tea through a colourful straw. She was suppose to bring the Serifs to the Vanero family to perhaps ask them for help in the situation that they are in. One murder will lead to another, and another and as long as some things wasn’t done to stop it, it’s going to lead to a full out war.

 

Luminari sighs as she puts down the cold beverage. The Gaster agreed to meet at the cafe before they left together, it was closer than meeting at the Asterix house or the New Home gate as they usually would. The shop’s door bell chimes as someone entered.

 

“Ah Don Serif, so nice to see you again. Can we get you anything?” one of the servers greet the new comer.

 

Luminari turns around to face the entrance and see Gaster with his fedora and dark purple suit. His eyelight meets her gaze and he smiles in response.  **“A cup of black coffee would be nice, thank you.”** he says to the server.

 

They bob their head and the barista behind the counter immediately starts making the beverage. Gaster makes his way to the table Luminari was sitting at in a few long strides.  **“Is this seat taken?”** He asks gesturing to the chair opposite her.

 

Luminari laughs through her nose, smiling in response. “Please.” she replies. Gaster chuckles deeply as he takes the seat. 

 

“So, you’ve been here often Don Serif?” she asks him.

 

**“Please, just Gaster, we’re friends are we not? And yes, I’ve been visiting this establishment a couple of times after you’ve introduced it to me. I find the coffee that they brew here simply wonderful.”** he replies with a grin.

 

Luminari could see the scar connecting his eye to the edge of his lips blend into each other as his mouth formed the this crescent. She secretly wondered how he’d gotten them, to has his skull of a head to be cracked at such a large extent.

 

**“Is something the matter, Ms Luminari?”** Gaster’s voice brought her back to reality.

 

“W-what?” she blinks

 

**“You’ve been staring at me for quite awhile, I was starting to think that I had something on my face.”** he chuckles.

 

A light blush linted her cheeks as she coughed into her gloved fist. “My apologies Gaster, i was just thinking.” 

 

The server returns with the cup of black coffee and Gaster pays for it, telling her to keep the change as a tip, she smiles thanking him before returning to the counter. 

 

“How are things back in New Home?” Luminari asks.

 

**“It’s been going relatively smoothly, if I say so myself. The queen has set up a small school where both humans and monsters are welcomed to, it’s been accepting many young students and there has been no problems whatsoever. The other monsters have all settled down in their homes and most of them have gotten jobs, so that is a successful integration.”** He lists, a disembodied magic hand resembling his counts the progress on its fingers.

 

“What about you? How’s being a don?”

 

Gaster looks at her and sighs in response  **“Well you were right about the paperwork, I hardly leave my office and even now I have a mountain of documents to look over and sign. Sans and Papyrus have been managing on their own, going out to make sure everybody is well and happy. It’s tough work.”**

 

Luminari lets out a small laugh. “You got that right. When I first became Don the others literally threw papers at me to sign, treaty agreements, rules that I had to go through among us Dons and _all the_ _fine prints_!” she covers her face dramatically letting out a groan.

 

Gaster takes a sip at his coffee smiling and chuckling to himself. The doorbell rings again and another third of the Serif skeletons enter. “AH THERE YOU ARE! I HOPE I AM RIGHT ON TIME YES?” Papyrus approaches their table.

 

“Yes, we were just early.” Luminari supplies.  **“Now we’re just waiting for Sans before we leave.”** Gaster tips the cup back finishing the last drop of the coffee.

 

A knock on the glass window slightly jolted the group as they whip their heads around to see Sans standing outside with a smug grin. “WELL YOU COULD’VE COME IN AND GREET THEM.” Papyrus gestures to Luminari and Gaster. Sans simply gives them a shrug and makes no attempt to move anywhere.

 

**“Well that’s our cue to go.”** Gaster stands to leave and the group makes their way to their destination.

 

As they walk through the Vanero territory, Luminari and Gaster hold some small talk at the front of the group as Papyrus tells Sans of the wonderful things that he has learnt from his visit at Kyari’s. “wait, you touched her hair?” sans raises his eyebrow bone

 

“AND IT FELT LIKE SILK, MAYBE EVEN BETTER THAN SILK!”

 

“Are you talking about Kyari’s hair?” Lumanari turns her head slightly to ask the brothers.

 

“UM, YES?” 

 

Luminari hums in response and continues to look forward “I’ve been wanting to ask what she uses to make it that soft and shiny. She’s always had the best head of hair, especially when she was just a young girl.”

 

“IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADULT HAIR AND CHILDREN HAIR?” Papyrus’ interest suddenly peaks, and so does Sans’.

 

“Oh yes, children have hair from young called ‘baby hair’ and it’s the softest thing a human body could ever produce. As Humans grow, we shed our hair very slowly and soon all the baby hair will be replaced with stronger, so called adult hair.” She finishes, fingering her fringe between her pointer and thumb.

As papyrus continues to share his findings and Luminari supplying more information on the subjects, a slight glint in the buildings caught her eye. She finishes her point with him and starts to look around for the glint again. In her experience, the glint of metal always leads to a gun.

 

**“What’s wrong?”** Gaster asks her.

 

“ ‘m looking for some-” Luminari keeps her voice low in a mumble. The glint catches her eye once again and it widens when she sees a sniper on top of the building in front of them with a rifle aimed at them. “Off the streets, off the streets now.” Luminari says urgently.

 

“HMM? What’s The Matter?” Papyrus lowers his voice.

 

Suddenly a resounding ‘bang’ echoes throughout the street. “Get down!” Luminari yells. 

 

A sickening crack reached her ears as a burnt hole appeared in the centre of Papyrus’ chest.

 

“P **A** P **Y** R **U** S” both Sans and Gaster yells as their family member falls to the ground.

 

Thinking fast, she grabs Sans by the collar and shakes him to grab his attention. “We don’t have enough time, the sniper was on that building. Grab him and bring him to my home. Call for Butterbone, he’ll know what to do.” she points to the building.

 

“but what about-” his eyelights have disappeared from his sockets, leaving a hopeless, worried look on his face.

 

“We’ll take care of him, go before that fucker escapes.” Luminari urges him, letting go of his collar and kneeling by Papyrus’ side.

 

Sans’ eye flares with magic and he teleports away, now with new found anger and determination.

 

Luminari tears open Papyrus’s shirt to see a half dusting, cracked sternum. “We can’t do this here, can you bring us back to my office?” she quickly turns to Gaster.

 

He gives her a silent nod and a wave of black envelops them. A feeling of falling greets her and in a second she’s on her office floor.

 

Luminari puts her left hand on his dusting bones. She pauses and turns to Gaster “I don’t suppose you know any healing magic.” he gives her a low answer in disagreement. “Whatever happens next, please just trust me.” she continues.

 

Luminari brings out Papyrus’ SOUL from his chest as Gaster simply stares with wide eyes, too shocked to do anything but observe and hope. The upturned heart dimmed and flickered rapidly as he saw his son’s HP drop as the seconds ticked by.

 

She uses her mouth to pull off her glove, revealing a skeletal, no an actual skeleton of a hand under the material. 

 

She cups his white SOUL with her hands and closes her eyes. A glow of green light is emitted from her palm, and even brighter from her phalanges. Her eyebrows are furrowed in concentration as she shifts her palm to hover over Papyrus’ ribcage.

  
  


**Gaster POV**

 

He was experiencing a mix of emotions as he watched her try to help his son. Confusion, panic, worry. His mind was  a mess. Slowly but surely, Gaster could see the young skeleton’s HP recovering. He lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.

 

Papyrus lets out a pained groan and both their attention are on him. “Papyrus, papyrus!” Luminari calls out to him.

 

The injurde skeleton lets out another groan in response. “Okay, good. I need to to stay with me Papyrus. Come on, repeat after me. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. Now you.” she encourages him.

 

“I-I am the great papyrus.” he echoes softly.

 

“I COOK THE GREATEST SPAGHETTI!”

 

“I cook the greatest spaghe- Wait, you haven’t had my spaghetti.” his comical eye sockets squint at her.

 

“I WILL COOK THE GREATEST PLATE FOR MY NEW FRIEND LUMINARI” she continues

 

“I- I will cook the greatest plate, For My New Friend Luminari!” a smile forms on his skull

 

“HENCE I WILL LIVE TO SEE THE NEXT DAY.” the green glow around his SOUL glows brighter as he continues to echo after her.

 

“H-hence I Will Live To See The Next Day.”

 

“MY FRIENDS ARE WAITING FOR ME”

 

“My Friends Are Waiting For Me!”

 

“MY BROTHER IS WAITING FOR ME”

 

“Sans Is Waiting For Me!”

 

“I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS”

 

“I Am The Great Papyrus!”

 

“AND I AM DETERMINED!”

 

“AND I AM  _ FILLED WITH DETERMINATION _ .” He yells.

 

A blinding flash of light fills the room, blinding him. When his vision returns to him, he could see Papyrus lying on the ground, his previously life threatening hole in his sternum now gone, like it never happened. There were no traces of dust on his attire, just a single burnt hole on his shirt indicating that he had been, shot. 

 

Luminari was on the ground, unconscious. He rushed to her side to check if she was alright.  **“Luminari?”** He calls softly.

 

Her tired eye blinks open slowly. She lets out a cough and uses her hand to grab onto Gaster’s blazer.  **“Luminari wha-”**

 

“Gaster, help me up please.” she interrupts him.

 

He silently obeys and helps her to her feet. She staggers to her table and collapses on her tall chair. She reaches for a drawer, unlocking it with a series of twits, clicks and turns.  She pulls it open to reveal several vials of glowing purple liquid. Gaster can only wait patiently and watch as she downs two of the vials.

 

She leans back into her chair panting. He could see her complexion change slightly as she looked less tired from just now. Her skeletal phalanges glowing a faint purple before the tint of colour disappears into her bones. She finally takes a few deeps breaths and helps herself off the chair.

 

She straightens her back, returning to her graceful demeanour and moves back to the floor to check on Papyrus. She gives his sternum a thoughtful look and rises to her feet. “Papyrus is fine now, he’ll wake up in a few moments.” Her voices now carried her strong persona.

 

“I’ll send someone to watch over him when he wakes up. For now, we have business to attend to.” Luminari announces, walking towards the door. Gaster looked at her with an incredulous expression, still trying to process the events that transpired. Many question whisked through his mind.

 

Just who was Luminari Asterisk?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure about you but that was a wild ride! AND MORE TO COME!
> 
> Comments are always welcomed!
> 
> a quick question to put out there for you readers, i know i listed this as a reader/ the skeletons but I feel like i'm not exactly carrying that idea that well. its just become OC/ the skeletons instead. would ya'll prefer if i changed it in to a 2nd POV and used more "yous" instead of "shes"?
> 
> IDK, just a thought.
> 
> Have a great day!


	16. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luminari interrogates the sniper and shares her secret
> 
> warning for mild gore I guess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! thanks you all for your wonderful comments, they really motivate me to write more!
> 
> Here's another chapter for u beautiful readers

Luminari slips her glove back on, hiding the skeleton hand under the guise of a “bad scar”. She opens the door and strides through the corridor and down flights of stairs with Gaster right behind her, too lost for words to say anything. She was dripping with exhaustion from over exerting herself with Papyrus. It had been a long time since she last used her magic on someone. Not saying that it’s a bad thing, it was excellent that she had not need to heal a life threatening injury in the past years, but it was still taxing on her.

 

As she walks pass the living room, she spots Sams sitting on an armchair reading. “Sams, dear.” she calls to him tiredly.

 

His head jerks up, quickly abandoning to book in his hands and hastily makes his way to her. “What’s wrong.” His blue eyes darting about as he takes in Luminari’s weakened state.

 

She smiles and places a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, we’ll take care of it. I just need you to watch over Papyrus in case he wakes up. He’s in my office, we’re going to be with Butter for a while.”

 

Sams blinks once and straightens his back. “Roger.” his voice confident as he makes his way back from where you came.

 

“This way.” she says to Gaster as they continue to down another flight of stairs to the basement of the big house.

 

They stop at a metal door, both of them could hear some faint murmuring inside. Luminari takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she collects herself together. She straightens her back to her fullest height and steals her eyes, turning to Gaster before knocking on the door. “Thanks for being so patient we me, I promise I’ll explain everything you want to know later. Just trust in me for a bit longer.”

 

A resounding “Clang, Clang” echoed around them as the eye slot slides open. “Mother! Right on time.” the amber eyes greets her as the movement of gears shifting can be heard within the door. The heavy door swings open to reveal a brunette man in simple tucked in shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black pants. In the centre of the room was a blindfolded man strapped down into a metal chair with a cloth tied between his jaws as a gag, struggling against the leather bonds. 

 

At the side stood Sans that immediately went to them as the brunette opened the door. “where’s pap, is he okay?” his eyelights quiver in worry, fists clenched in anger.

 

Luminari looks at Gaster, signaling him to give Sans an answer.  **“He’s alright, son. He’s resting in her office as we speak.”** he places a hand on the shorter skeleton.

 

Sans shoulders sag in relief as his face relaxed slightly. He steels his gaze as he turn to Luminari. “i found the bastard and brought him, to him like you said. what now?”

 

“Now, the both of you stand back and see how we get our information out of rats.” Luminari glares at the blindfolded man that was trying to shake himself out of his restraints

 

She jerks her head towards the man, Butter unties both blindfold and gag and the material falls onto the man’s lap. “Hello there, I’m sure you know why you’re here, Mr sniper.” Butter starts in a cheerful voice as he dances around the man to face him.

 

“Fuck you bitch!” he tries to spit at Luminari. As soon at his saliva left his mouth, a clothed fist greeted his face. “Ah ah ah.” He tutted, fist pushing against the man’s bloodied nose. “That’s not how you’re supposed to speak to mother.” 

 

The man stares back at him with wide, frightened eyes as he let out a pathetic whine of pain. “Now, now, Butter. If we punch him too hard he’s not going to cooperate, is that right?” Luminari smiles sweetly at the sniper.

 

Butter removes his fist from his face as the man glares at the two Asterisks. “Like hell l’m going to tell you fucks about anything.” he spat.

 

“Ah well, we have ways to make people talk, and it really depends on what got them here in the first place. Since you pointed your gun at us, and hit one of my dear friends, I’d really encourage you to speak before we start.” Luminari’s smile turns cold as Butters begins to chuckle beside her.

 

“I already know who you are, Galassion lackey, all the more reason for me to get something out of you. What did Lector tell you and the rest of your rat friends to do?” her voice turns icy as she regards the bleeding man. The light hanging above them casted a menacing shadow on her features. 

 

“Told me, to tell ya to fuck off!” he snickers at her.

 

Luminari sighs as he turns to Butter. “Butter, remember that discussion we had the other day?”

 

“Discussion? You mean the bones one?” his face lights up.

 

“Yes, that one. Want to test it out on our uncooperative rat?”

 

Butter gasps as his amber eyes sparkle in excitement. “That’s a splendid idea! I knew I could always count on you for such wonderful ideas!” Butters makes his way further into the room where a long case was laid out on a table.

 

“What the fuck? Oi! What test?” The man tries to crane his neck to see what Butters was up to, snapping back to glaring at Luminari.

 

At this point the skeleton monsters in the room we as clueless as the captive man about what was on her mind. They stood next to the door in silence, waiting to see what would the masked Don do next.

 

“Well, we know that the human body has 206 bones all together, and you’ll live even after breaking a few which shows that you don’t really need that many bones to live. So we were  _ discussing _ , how many broken bones can a human survive on before they die?”

 

The man’s eyebrows furrowed as Luminari watched him try to process the information in his little brain. “I’ve got a theory that a human can still live after they've lost 103. That’s a half dead human maybe, but still alive.” she continues.

 

“I say 155! You never said how alive the person needs to be and as long as they have their core structure that should still be alive.” Butters comes back with a shining bone saw and taps it against the metal chair leg. “And for accuracy we’re gonna count them down one by one.”

 

The man jolts at the resounding clang as Butter lifts the bonesaw and bounces it in his other hand. “Y-You’re sick.” he breaths, eyes focusing on the bone saw. “And plus, h-how are ya even gonna get the bones one by one? I’m not smart but i sure know that there can be many bones in one area.”

 

“Well, little rat, I’m called ButterBone for a reason.” Butter leans down to meet his eyes and gives him a sly smile.

 

“So mother, which distal phalanx should we start with first?” Butter childishly cocks his head to the side.

 

“His trigger happy finger sounds like a good start, don’t you think? It’ll take away his opportunity to comfortably shoot someone again.” a sadistic smile ghosted her lips.

 

“Roger that.” Butter pins the finger in question under the serrated teeth of the bone saw as the man gasped like a fish out of water, legs kicking against the chair.

 

“Oh dear, i almost forgot we had guest.” Luminari says, turning around to face Gaster and Sans. “You can leave the room if you want to, I’m sure bone breaking is as disturbing and painful for skeleton monsters as it is for humans.” she says.

 

**“I’ll stay, it’s interesting to see you work.”** Gaster replies.

 

She looks to Sans that simply continues to glare at the offending human in the chair. She’ll take that as a ‘stay’. Luminari looks to Butters as he waits expectantly at her. He smiles as an acknowledgement to continue and brings down the saw in one swift movement.

 

The man cries out as the first bone was severed and drops like a flesh berry to the ground. “That’s one.” she counts.

 

“We might consider stopping if you spill the deets.” she says as Butter shifts the bone saw up along his finger.

 

“I know very well how an interrogation goes and I ain’t tellin ya shit.” he glares back up at her.

 

Butter saws through his intermediate phalanx and the man grips the chair, refusing to cry out for the second time.

 

“Thats two. Ah this is taking too long, do 3, 4 and 5.” Luminari waves her hand dismissively.

 

“Which finger?”

 

“His middle, same hand. People can still shoot with their middle finger.”

 

“Roger.” 3 more consecutive cuts were made as more finger nuggets dropped to the floor.

 

“FUuck! I talk! I’ll fucking talk! Just please stop!” he pleads.

“Very good. So, what did that degenerate tell you to do?” Luminari asks

 

“He said, that he won’t pay, us, until he sees a dead body of those freaks.” he jerks his chin towards the Serifs. “3 guys came back saying that they’ve got some monster’s hand. Only thing that came out of his jacket was a handful of dust, boss was furious and shot them dead.”

 

Luminari clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Always so stupidly violent. Take away the rest of the middle fisnger and do the same for his other hand.”

 

“Wait wait wait you said you’d stop!” He yells at her trying to clench his fingers to escape the looming bone saw.

 

“I said we might consider stopping with our experiment. And we did. Now we’re just continuing with your punishment.” Luminari smiles.

 

After a few more minutes of severing his fingers and bandaging them up, Lumanari speaks up again. “I want you, to leave Ebott City, and never return, understand?”

 

“And if I don’t?” 

 

Suddenly glowing blue heart is pulled from the center of his chest, lifting the man painfully against the restraints off the chair. Behind, Sans’ eye socket was glowing with cyan streaks of magic as his hand gripped the air in front of him.

 

“buddy, if any of us see you anywhere near ebott city you’re gonna have a  _  b a d  t i m e. _ ”

 

Before he could answer, Sans throws him back into the chair roughly. The man lets out a painful cough as he breaths heavily in his seat.

 

“Pack your bags and leave by tonight. I have eyes all over the city so don’t try anything funny.” Luminari snaps her finger and Butter brings the back end of the bonesaw down on his head, knocking him out.

 

“Tell Leo and Mus to leave him in an alley around the outskirts of Ebott, and watch him until he leaves.” She tells Butter before turning around to face the Serifs. “Follow me back to the office, Papyrus should be awake by now.”

 

* * *

 

Sans hastily follows behind her, walking a head of Gaster. They reach her office door and Luminari knocks rythmically on the wooden surface. She opens the door to see Sams sitting opposite an alive and well Papyrus. “papyrus!” Sans runs to his brother and pulls the tall skeleton into a tight hug.

 

“S-Sans!” Papyrus hugs his brother back. Sams looks to Luminari and takes his leave. “Come, sit, we have much to talk about.” she gestures to the vacant sofa. Gaster takes a seat next to Luminari as the brothers sat opposite them.

 

“I suppose I’ll have to explain how I was able to heal Papyrus, and other things.” Luminari starts, taking a breath.

 

**“Indeed, humans aren’t supposed to able to use magic in this day and age, and your hand… what are you hiding from us, Asterisk?”** Gaster pushes.

 

“I’ll have to start from the begin… but I’m going to keep it short, healing Papyrus was very draining.

 

A long time ago, when Monsters and Humans lived on the surface, a war broke out between the two species. I was born into a family of mages and specialised in healing magic. So my family and I were all sent to the battlefields whether we liked it or not. I was sent to one of the camps to focus on healing the soldiers, while my parents were sent to the front lines.

 

One day, as a new batch of injured soldiers came in, we were attacked. A white blast broke through our defences that wiped out anything in its path. I was focused on healing a soldier, a father, and I guess I refused to leave his side until my job was done. A fellow healer pushed me aside, away from the main beam, but I was still caught in it. Everything just turned black and white from there. 

 

When I woke up, my HP was dangerously low, but I was still alive. Somehow I managed to survive whatever the attack was, while the others did not. I used the rest of my magic to heal myself, absorbing whatever remnants of magic was left in the air to help. And then I realised the state of my body.”

 

Luminari pulls off the black glove from her right hand, revealing the skeleton hand. Sans and Papyrus’ eye sockets visibly widened as Sans’ eye lights disappear in the shadows of his skull. Gaster simply observed how the bones moved, despite being connected to a human, it was virtually impossible. He could see a faint glow of magic in between the small joints.

 

“My entire right side, was gone. A straight split through the center. The war ended, my parents were dead, and I was turned into a monster in exchange for my life. I never hated monsters, I had a close friend that was one, never saw him ever since. So I ran away, and hid from the rest of the humans.

 

During my hiding, I practiced my magic and tried to figure out how I became like this. I discovered that I could use bone magic, which meant I was turned into a, half skeleton monster, I guess. In time, i learned to form my magic into a solid form to fill out my clothing to look like i still have a human shape, and I hid the rest of my self under bandages.

 

The human society then was just as it was, just without monsters and a very small population of mages. As time passed, I was closed to being found out, and sometimes was found out. My safety was at stake and I had to defend myself, hence my high LV and EXP. 

 

Over the decades of hiding and living by myself, I realised, that I missed having a family. Ebott City was in chaos, and many people were in poverty, so I took in the people that have been discarded by their own kind, and have nowhere to go. I managed to give them a home, a safe space and family where everyone takes care of each other despite not being related by blood.

 

Then after the Great War, the gangs started to appear. We were no long safe by our selves anymore. So I decided that the safest way for us to survive, was to be at the top, the strongest family in Ebott City and protect everyone under us for a peaceful future. And that’s where we are now.” Luminari finishes.

 

They sit in silence as the skeletons process everything she had said. “if your entire right side is a skeleton now, what do you look like under the mask?” Sans speaks up. Gaster side eyes Sans as if to say ‘what on earth are you doing?’.

 

“Its half a human skull, less like your’s and Gaster’s but closer to how Papyrus’ skull looks like.” Luminari supplies, bony finger reaching up to scratch the surface of her mask.

 

“If, If It Is Not Too Much To Ask, Could We See Your Face? It’s Not Often That We See Another Skeleton Monster, Well, Half Skeleton Monster.” Papyrus asks shyly.

 

Luminari blinks. “Um sure, I don’t mind. Though its still more human bone structure than skeleton monster bone structure…” she says as she loosens the straps of her mask.

 

The straps come off and she slowly removes the half head mask away from her face. Her face was really split down the center like she had described, the human features on the left and a skull on the right. It wasn’t a smooth transition from human to skull, they could see the silhouette of whatever was suppose to be on top of her skull as clear as day. Where her nose and lips stopped, there was simply a black, void like shadow that filled the space. 

 

Where her neck connects to her head, they could see a layer of purple magic peeking out of her turtleneck collar, hiding the rest of the void of her neck and filling out the empty space. Her eye socket had a small crack from the corner of her eye, like a crooked eyeliner wing. In her eye socket, was a round eye light dancing about as she tried to avoid their intense gaze.

 

“I know it looks… weird, I too get a bit weirded out by how I look now.” her jaw visibly moves up and down, with her lips as she speaks.

 

**“No, it’s not weird. Simply, different. And beautiful.”** Gaster whispers. A light purple blush dusts both her skeletal and human cheek bones.

 

“Ah, um well, it has been a long day for all of us.” she says hastily putting on the mask, to hide her face. “I’ll- I’ll see if i can get the other two families on our side in this, messy situation that we are in right now. For now, we should rest, and stay vigilant.”

 

Luminari moves off the sofa and towards the door. “Thank you for listening to me, and trusting me. Take care on your way back.” she says as they too start to leave.

 

Outside, Sams and Jaws were waiting. Papyrus turns to Luminari and clasps her hand. “I Can’t Thank You Enough For Saving Me, Miss Asterisk.” 

 

“yeah, thank you for saving my bro. i’m sorry i ever doubted you, it was wrong of me.” Sans adds

 

“I wanted to, and I hope you’ll keep your promise of making your great spaghetti.” she smiles.

 

**“Rest well, Miss Luminari. If you need any help, just call us.”** Gaster says before stepping out.

 

“Thank you Gaster. Good bye then, Jaws and Sams will show you out.” she says before closing the door.

 

“Come, this way.” Sams says as they start walking. There’s a slight tension in the air. The last time Jaws spoke with them in this scenario, it wasn’t a friendly situation. But perhaps it was different now that they were with Sams?

 

“So, boss told you what you wanted to find out? Her secret?” Jaws starts without turning back to look at them,

 

“Y-yes, Miss Luminari Has Been Very Kind To Heal Me And Even More To Tell Us Something So Important To Her.”

 

**“Yes, I am grateful that Don Asterix decided to share something like that with us, perhaps it will benefit both families now that there is another known healer around.”** Gaster adds.

 

“yeah, your don is a really powerful healer. i’m sure you guys get a good share of the magic.”

 

Jaws and Sams stop in their tracks and the brothers almost bump into them when they do. “You will not speak of this to anyone, not even the rest of the monsters. She already has a lot on her hands.” Jaws’ voice lowers to a growl.

 

“What she did with Papyrus, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes they die in her arms as she tries to heal them, because she’s usually too late to save them, she gives them a painless death as she watches their eyes close.” his grip tightens on his crutch handle. The sudden shift of mood shocks the skeletons.

 

Sams puts a hand on Jaws’ shoulder “It maybe hard for us to see our brothers and sisters die, but it’s a lot harder when you live through all of their deaths. Every time when someone gets hurt, she becomes very desperate to save them. We try to avoid getting hurt to save her from remembering the bad memories.

 

Mother has told you her secret, so please don’t go spreading it or asking about it more, it’s painful enough for her to even think about them.” Sams looks to them.

 

**“Her secret is safe with us, we swear on our SOULS.”** Gaster raises his chin in a dignified manner, putting a hand over his chest. The brothers nod in agreement. 

 

Satisfied with that answer, Sams turns to continue on their journey out. “She’s going to have nightmares again tonight.” he whispers under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so that was fun!
> 
> I think i should put aside a chapter to just go through the side-ish characters thats are part of the family and stuff.
> 
> Do leave a comment on what u think of the story so far (i really do love reading all sorts of comments especially the theory ones!)
> 
> Love ya'll!


	17. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nightmare, a dream. 
> 
> A memory, a lost friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter!!!!
> 
> Comments are always welcome too!
> 
> I might be opening a Q & A session to answer some of your questions (duh) and maybe introduce all the "extra" characters and OCs that i have mentioned in this fic!
> 
> Have fun!

Rose slams your door open, her coat dripping from running in the pouring rain. She holds onto the door handle with her life, threatening to collapse at any moment. You quickly run to support her. Where were the other two? They were supposed to be on a retrieve mission.

 

“They *huff* they took em’. Ambush *huff* I ran.” She panted, leaning onto your suit.

 

“Where are they now?” You gripped her shoulders making her face you. Your thoughts ran wild with possibilities and panic.

 

“Said to meet at the same warehouse. They’re waiting for you.” Rose managed to push out before her full weight was on you.

 

You try to gently let her down to lean against the wall, when you say a gunshot at her side. You quickly ran out to get the medic to Rose before dashing out into the rain. The warehouse that you sent them to wasn’t too far from the house, just around the perimeter of the slums.

 

The scene around you fades and your vision comes into focus again. It was just like all the others. This memory, this one memory will haunt the rest of your dreams.

 

Standing in the middle of the warehouse was her, Don T. “Where are my sons.” Your mouth moved on its own. Familiar feelings of dread, anger and a false sense of courage tingled in your veins, fists clenched to prevent yourself from showing any signs of fear.

 

They opened their mouth but you could not hear anything they were saying. Their voice was muted like you were hearing from the under the depths of the sea, just muted echos of sounds. They smiled and beconded the shadows. A limp body fell out of the shadows surrounding them as they took hold of its neck.

 

The person’s suit was dyed black with blood against its natural blue colour, white hair disheveled, his blue eyes were lidded and filled with exhaustion. “Sams!” You called out to him, but there was no response.

 

Something or someone was holding you back as the figure took out a jagged blade and drew it across his pale face. His helpless scream mirrored yours as blood flowed down his chin. Purple flames erupted from your body, pushing away the shadows around you as you let loose a number of jagged bones at the figure.

 

They drop Sams and retreat to the side. You quickly make your way to his side and cupped his bleeding face with your trembling hands. “No no no nononono, come on baby, stay with me. You’re going to be alright-" you call out to him.

 

“Mother... they took Daniel.” Sams choked out.

 

“Don’t talk, I’m going to heal you. It’s going to be okay.” Tears started to pool in your eyes as you desperately tried to push your magic to heal him.’

 

“You’ve been so nice to us… when everybody left us... I-I love you mother.” Sans whispers, eye fluttering close.

 

“Don’t you dare die on me Samson!” your magic flared, enveloping him in flickering green magic. You watched as the deep cut slowly mended, as well as other parts of his body begin to heal itself, before letting your magic go.

 

An eerie purple glow starts to fill the room as you felt your magic pool in your skeletal eye. “Where’s Daniel? Where’s my SON?” You demanded.

 

The figure simply chuckled as they flicked a hat in your direction. You looked down at the hat at your feet. Your heart dropped. The distinct grey fedora with a maroon ribbon, and a broken handle of a red and grey scissor.

 

_ “He’s gone little star.” _

 

It was purple. Just purple, black, red and streaks of white that flew across your vision. The emotions, the rage inside of you just explodes as you direct it towards the shadows. Tears streaking down your cheeks as the dam holding backing your pent up pain and anger just broke.

 

 

 

**“L u m i n a r i !”**

 

 

 

Someone called your name. Their voice warm, comforting, deep, welcoming. Familiar. They call you again and a blanket of darkness envelops you, hugging you tight. It wasn’t constricting in anyway, it was soft, safe. You relax as the darkness takes you

  
  
  


“Luminari? I know you’re awake (Y/N), sweetie, get up.”

 

The warmth of the blanket is forcefully pulled away from you as you desperately try to hold on to the soft material. You rub your eyes tiredly as you roll yourself out of the bed. Your mother ruffling your bed head after she folds your blanket. “Come on now dear, your father wants you down before lunch.”

 

“Mmm” you hum, groggily waddle yourself to the bathroom to get yourself ready for the day.

 

Your father looks up from his book when you enter the dining room. “Ah Lulu dear, good morning.” he greets you.

 

“Morning papa.” you say, taking your seat at the table.

 

“My friend, Ding Bat, will be coming over for lunch later so I’ll expect you to be on your best behaviour. Alright?”

 

“Kay.” You swung your legs from the chair as you munched on a sandwich your mother made for breakfast.

 

“He’ll be bringing over his son too, I think he’s around the same age as you.” he scratches his chin.

 

Your ears perked up when he mentions his friend’s kid. A new friend? Hopefully! It was really lonely where you lived. Your parents took you under their wing as their apprentice so you didn’t really go to any form of mage school and your home was relatively far away from the rest of the village, the next door neighbours being the rolling hills and trees.

 

“Go have fun and show him around okay?” your father tells you, getting up from his seat to ruffle your hair.

 

“Okay!” you reply excitedly. He smiles at you and goes to his study table to finish reading his book as you finish your breakfast.

 

A few moments later, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it!” you say running to open the door.

 

You creak the door open to see a towering skeleton Monster dressed in a Long robe that the esteemed mages wore. **“Oh, who might you be? Is Roman in?”** his deep melodious voice reaches your ears as he crouches down to meet your tiny height.

 

“Uh-” you blink at the skeleton monster. Behind the back of the mage, you see a figure slightly shorter than you trying to hide themselves behind the flowing robe.

 

“Who’s that sweetie?” Your father comes up behind you and opens to door wider. His eyebrows rise is surprise as he looks at the skeleton monster. “Ah, Ding Bat, I didn’t think you’d arrive this early.”

 

The monster rises to his full height. **“Well I finished my errand and we were in the neighbourhood so I thought why not, though i do apologise if we were interrupting anything, Roman. My son here just was excited to meet your daughter.”** he chuckles, patting the head of the short figure.

 

“Don’t say it like that!” they yell, gripping his father’s robe tighter as he buries his face in Ding Bat’s long legs.

 

He lets out a low rumbling chuckle **“Is this the young lady?** ” he asks, turning back to you.

 

“Hi! My name’s (YN).” You shake his skeletal hand.

 

**“It’s a pleasure to meet you, young Asterix. Hey come on, introduce yourself.”** he nudges his son from behind his legs. The shy skeleton boy hugs his father’s leg as he darts a few fleeting glances at you.

 

“Um, hello, I’m Wing Ding.” he greets.

 

 

* * *

  
  


 

After lunch, you bring the poor shy boy to your favourite spot, the tree on top of a hill, behind your home. 

 

“Here we are!” you open your arms as a big welcome to your tree.

 

“This is your tree?” he looks up at the tall oak, standing majestically on top of the hill.

 

“Yup! I come here to read my books. It’s really quite and no one will disturb us, so I take my books from home and bring them up here to read.” you pull him to join you at the foot of the tree. A neat stack of books could be seen tucked in a small tree hollow.

 

“What books do you read?” he asks, taking interest in the stack.

 

“Some of papa’s magic books and mama’s scrolls, I make sure to ask them when ever I borrow them and put them back after I’m done. I want to grow up to be a great mage like mama and papa.”

 

“Papa’s a strong magic user too! Some times I ask him to teach me his special bone magic.” his eye lights sparkle at the sound of magic.

 

“Woah! Did you learn anything cool yet?”

 

“Y-yeah! Here, look.” Gaster focuses and a book is lifted from the stack. It is encompasses in a glowing blue light, as it slides out of the hollow and into his hands.

 

“Wow, what’s that move called?”

 

“It’s not a move, silly, it’s called blue magic. Papa says that blue magic can move things around.” Wing Dings’ voice gains more confidence as he talks to you.

 

“That’s so cool! Mama’s taught me some healing magic, I can’t exactly show it to you now.” You look to your hands slightly disappointed.

 

“I-it’s okay, (Y/N). But wow, papa says healing magic takes a lot of hard work.”

 

“It’s fine, mama says I’m special. Maybe you’re special at other types of magic too!”

 

“You think?” Wing Dings blushes, his smooth cheek bones dusted with a light purple glow.

 

“Yeah! And we will be the best mages in Ebott.” you exclaim, throwing your arms in the air excitedly.

 

“Y-yeah!” he joins you, hesitantly throws his hands up copying your pose

 

“Let’s be friends, like mage buddies. Oh! we can give each other nicknames!” you say, turning to him.

 

“Um, I don’t mind any nickname you give me, just not anything with the ‘ding’”

 

“Okay, you can call me (N/N). Ummm.... what about Wing D?” you suggest.

 

“Wing D?”

 

“Yeah, Wing Dings but just, Wing D!”

 

“Ah okay!” he brightens at his new nickname.

 

“Alright! Come one, lemme show you one of my favourite books!” you pull out the rest of the books out of the 

 

You and Wing Dings, or Wing D you know him as from now on share your various reading materials, studying up on the different magics from your father’s books.

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

“(N/N)!” you hears your friend yell your nickname as he runs towards you from the house.

 

“Hmm? What’s up Wing D?” you stand up from your spot and walk towards the edge of the top of the hill.

He stops at the bottom of the hill.

 

“Stay there! I wanna show you something.” he yells back, stopping at the foot of the hill.

 

You could see his tiny hands glowing with purple magic, as he summons a rows of bones that’s forms a wall. The bone wall then pushes forward and separates into individual moving bones in the ground the travel up the hill and zig zagging through each other. Your eyes widen at the display of the bones. 

 

A smile tugging on your lips as you watched how much Wing Dings has improved in his magic. You see him through the passing bones, hands stretched out, eyes filled with concentration as the bones move towards you gracefully.

 

The bones then come to form a circle around, circling around your form as you stood on the hill. After a moment of admiring the revolving bones, they slip into the ground like and disappeared leaving no trace of their presence.

 

“Yes! I finally did it!” Wing Dings cheers, jogging up the hill towards you.

 

“What was that?” You asked eyes sparkling at the skeleton.

 

“Papa taught me bone magic, I wanted to show you a trick I came up with. Was- was it okay?” He looks away shyly.

 

“Okay? It was amazing! You have to teach me some time!” you grab his hand excitedly, maybe one day you could show him some of your magic.

 

 

* * *

  
  
  


You and Wing Dings sat under the tree in silence studying your own notes you’ve made. It’s been many years since you’ve first met each other. In your younger days, he would pester his father to bring him along to see you and practice magic with you. 

 

But now that the both of you were older, he visited you on his own. Still having the dream of becoming the best mages in Ebott, the both of you consulted each other on your studies, practiced your magic and sometimes spared with each other to improve. You looked forward to all of his visits, it was always a brighter day when he was with you.

 

You lean over to him to clarify the use of a specific herb you were looking at. He flips through his own notes and gives you a clearers answer. You thank him and the both of you continued your silent studying.

 

The clouds floated by as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves above. The grass tickles your legs and sometimes the chirping of the birds overhead could be heard.

 

You liked it. Even though none of you were talking, just being with each other satisfied you, and probably Wing Dings too since he kept coming. If only this moment lasted forever.

 

 

 

* * *

  
  


 

The king declared war against the monsters and all the mages were to be part of it. You’ve graduated from your studies to become a full fledged young mage, and now you have to be a part of the war alongside your parents. 

 

Since you were well versed in your healing magic, you were put in charge of the first aid and healing quarters. You parents on the other hand, were powerful fire mages and were put in the front lines.

 

Wing D visited you for the very last time that day. 

 

The air was tense between the two of you. After the king’s announcement, all mages were suppose to prepare for war. But just before you left with your parents, a tug on your SOUL told you to visit the tree. There you saw your best friend waiting, one hand on the tree’s trunk.

 

He turns to you when you approach him. Your heart never changed, even though you were suppose to be fighting against the monster in front of you as per your king’s command, your loyalty still stood by Wing Dings.

 

As you closed the distance between you and Wing Dings, you noticed how much he’s grown. Older, his features resembles his father’s wise eyes and gentle smile. When you first met him, he was shorter than you, but now he stood almost half a head taller than you.

 

He took both your hands and squeezed them with his skeletal ones. “When this is all over, I- I need to tell you something. And for me to do that, both of us have to be alive.” he smiles, his eyes looking at you sadly.

 

“I want you to promise me, that you’ll live, so that you’ll hear what I need to tell you.” his hold on your hands tighten slightly, almost as if he did not want to let you go.

 

You squeeze his hands in response. “I promise, I’ll wait for you to see me again. No matter the costs. Now, you’ve got to promise me that  _ you’ll  _ live, I hate waiting y’know?” you smile at him.

 

His eyes widened as he pulls you into a hug that you gladly return. “I promise.” he whispers into your shoulder. You stood there with him, and it was as if the world stopped for the both of you as you held onto each other. Both a life line to each other.

 

You reluctantly let him go, that that was the last time you saw him.

 

The memory fades away, leaving you in the dark shadows of your mind. You feel a familiar presence near you. The rhythmic thump of a friendly SOUL. It reminded you of him. You relaxed next to it, but loneliness filled your heart.

 

“I miss you, Wing D.” you whispered to the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder to leave a question if ya want! (I might not reply to it but i'll prob feature them in the Q & A)


	18. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster gets a call in the middle of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It finally all comes together!~
> 
> Its a short chapter but I hope you'll enjoy it! Ah I had so much fun writing this!
> 
> Comments are always welcomed and do leave any questions you might have in the comments too! I might hold a Q & A session soon compiling all the questions along with a list of all the characters mentioned so far in this fic!

That night, Gaster sat at his desk deep in thought as he processed the entire day’s worth of information. Papyrus was shot in an attempted assassination by the Galassions. Papyrus did not dust, thanks to Lumianri’s quick thinking and… magic. They watch the Asterisks interrogate the sniper and he supposes that he’s at war with the Galassions. Papyrus wakes up and Luminari reveals herself to be a mage. But not just any mage. A mage that was supposed to die during the war but got turned into a half skeleton monster instead.

 

She takes her mask off, and he calls her - okay, not the point. As a scientists, ex royal scientist but still a scientist, he had many questions about the woman. Firstly, how in the stars was she alive? An ambush that killed everyone around her, but she came out alive. Well, with half her human body missing. 

 

Which brings up another question! Where was the rest of her body? When she took of her mask, the area that separates the pearly white skeleton from the flesh of her human face was hidden behind a pitch black shadow, as if the void itself was trying to hide it from the rest of the world. A human body has a typical lifespan of around a hundred years before it shuts down and the human dies. But its has been a few hundred, close to a thousand years since the war and Luminari looked like she was frozen in time.

 

Perhaps, she had become a boss monster! Boss monsters had an extremely extensive life span, and only aged when the shared their magic with their young. Asgore, Toriel and Gerson were the oldest boss monsters next to him and Grillby. All of them had lived through the war and were still alive till this day. Sans and Papyrus were his children, yes, but the both between him and them was cut off when he fell into the core.

 

Lumanari being a boss monster would answer some of his questions, but does that meant that she was still human? Her magic might function similarly to a monster’s now, helping to keep her physical form alive. Yes, it was highly unlikely, but not entirely impossible. Her exposure to magic as a mage might also be a reason how she was able to survive, coupled with sheer determination and human adrenaline.

 

Humans are a complicated species, physically and magic wise.

 

He felt a small ache in his SOUL. Perhaps he was stressed, after all they had went through that day and how late in the night it was. He should be asleep like Sans and Papyrus. His younger son had opted to sleep with Sans for comfort, and incase Sans had any nightmares that night. Papyrus had been successful in calming his brother down ever since he shared with him the problems he had with his nightmares about the resets. A pity really, that Gaster wasn’t there for his sons when they needed him the most.

 

The ache in his SOUL grew stronger as he clutches his chest. He really need to stop stress himself out unnecessarily. The brothers were fine for now. He tries to calm his bones down by relaxing and the pain of the ache fades, but leaves a tugging sensation in its wake.

 

Strange, this never happened to him in the underground. It felt like something was wrong, something or someone calling out to him. But Gaster had no idea what. His mind drifted to Luminari. Did something happen to her?

 

Just in case, he goes over to the phone to give the Asterisk household a call. But before he could pick up the receiver, the phone rings. Blinking the sleepiness away he picks it up  **“Serifs speaking.”**

 

“Good evening Don Gaster, this is Jaz from the from the family of stars.” The pink one that spoke in rhymes? What did she want from him this late in the night? 

 

“The healing may have helped Papyrus’ SOUL, but unfortunately opened old scars. 

Her mind is tormented, her magic has gone wild, the nightmares are far from mild. 

We cannot reach her side, as much as we tried. 

We fear that she might hurt herself as she cries for her loss, so I came to call you as I worry for our boss.

We are not asking for much, Don Gaster, but we care for our mother.... please help her.” her voice on the other line pleads followed by a muffled crash in the background.

 

**“I’m on my way.”** His SOUL thumps against his ribcage as he hangs up. The skeleton quietly teleports to the front door of the Asterisk’s home and bangs on the wooden barrier. Here, he could feel the tug on his SOUL grow stronger, as if to pull him inside the house. 

 

A short, snow haired boy opens the door and leads him inside “This way.” They take a different route to the third floor of the house where he sees Jaz. “Much thanks, Manny. Over here, Don Gaster.” she says to the boy as the three of them approach a small crowd outside a door riddled with holes. 

 

Nearing the crowd, he could see a frantic Jaws and Sams pacing back and forth in front of the door. “Make way please.” Jaz tells the gathered Asterisks. Jaws and Sams turn to her and their expressions change to surprise and confusion when they saw Gaster with her. “What are you doing here?” Jaws demands, taking a step towards him as if to guard the door.

 

A loud crack broke through the hallway as Gaster saw a sharp object pierce through the door and fade away, leaving a gaping hole in the door. “I called for him, as you can see our choices are slim.” Jaz informs the green haired man. It was Sams’ turn to stare at the skeleton skeptically. 

 

**“I too worry for her and I have the abilities to deal with whatever she throws at me, so if you please, let me see her.”** Gaster informs them. Sams continues to stare at the skeleton Don, but silently relents and pats jaws on his shoulder. “We can keep watch from outside.” he tells his brother.

 

Jaws continues to glare at Gaster, but relents as Sams pats on his shoulder. He clicks his tongue in defeat and steps aside, letting Gaster pass. He could feel magic radiating from the other side as glimpses of purple could be seen through the holes in the door. He goes in and raises a barrier of bones that cover the doorway as he swings the door open, a flaming projectile lodges itself between the spaces of the bones before it fades away like the rest.

 

He closes the door behind him separating him from the worried humans. Lowering the bone wall, he surveys the room. Gaster has seen similar reactions to nightmares. Sans had frequent nightmares and reacted badly majority of the time. Usually it was just the usual tossing and turning with his blue magic activated, causing furniture to float in his room. And other times it was rather turbulent night with an semi conscious skeleton monster attacking him when he tried to reach his distressed son to calm him down. 

 

This however, surpassed all of his encounters with Sans. Parts of the room were lit with fierce purple flames that didn’t burn the walls but still emitted heat, coupled with spear like bones shooting out from walls and grounds, lodging themselves deep into the walls, before fading away leaving a hole in their wake. At the centre of the chaos, was the curled up form of the previously dignified family head of the Asterisks, limbs tangled in the blanket at followed her from the bed.

 

She grips the material tightly as glowing purple tears stream down her cheeks and pool at her head. Her still body would jerk and toss, but her shut eyes showed no sign of being awake. Normally, he would try to hold Sans against himself, and let the familiar magic of his SOUL calm his son down. But he had no idea how that would work with Luminari or if he could reach her safely.

 

He tries to call out to her, she however shows no response and the whirlwind of chaos around them persists. Hesitantly, he slowly makes his way towards her, using his blue magic to stop any bones from reaching him as they haphazardly shot at his direction.

 

Closer now, he calls out her name for the second time. She tosses in her spot, but still no change or sign of calming down. Gaster wrecks his skull of ideas, but the only one shouting at him was to hold her. His SOUL tugs urgently towards her pitiful form on the ground. It was a logically sound idea, but it wasn’t like his son, and probably won’t work like it does with Sans. He barely knew the woman personally, despite listening to her spilling her secrets. She was an adult, almost physically as old as him, and it would be absolutely awkward for the both of them

 

Ah screw it, he’ll apologise to her later. At a moral dilemma, he follows his SOUL. He gingerly takes hold of her trembling form through the thick material of the blanket, to prevent direct contact with her. A bone suddenly materialises from the wall and flies straight for his skull. His eye sockets widened as a disembodied hand quickly catches it mid air. If this continues any longer, she would surely hurt him and herself.

 

**“Luminari!”** he tries again, a stronger sense of urgency in his voice. His SOUL hums as he holds her tightly against his chest.

 

The bones in the air suddenly stop, fading away as the purple fires around him die down slowly. Huh, it did work. The purple tears continue to trickle down her cheeks as her breathing calms relaxes, he could see her full face in the close proximity that they were in. like she had mentioned before, her bone structure was a lot similar to Papyrus in the way that her mandible was separated from the rest of the skull.

 

He used a bony hand to gently wipe away her tears. Both her eye cried purple magic, perhaps the theory of her body being supported by her magic was correct. Her human features were soft against his phalanges while her skeletal features were smooth. He continued to watch her now relaxed sleeping form as he cradled her head against his chest. The tugging on his SOUL had stopped for a while now. 

 

He shifts to sit with his back against the bed, the sleeping Luminari still wrapped in her blanket, and in his arms. He lets out a tired sign as he tilts his head back to rest against the soft surface of the bed. He had finally managed calm the rampaging Don down, miraculously. He looks back down at Luminari to see her peaceful, tear streaked sleeping face. A warm blush dusted his cheeks as he held her, her head leaning against his chest.

 

Now what? He could try to carry her to her bed, risk waking her up. Or just shit there, and wait for a while until one of the Asterisks come in and take her from him. Decisions, decisions. Gaster opted for the option to try to carry her to the bed. He carefully maneuvres an arm under her legs, holding her against him as he tries to get up from his position on the floor.

 

Carrying her in a bridal style, he slowly turns around and lowers her onto the bed. With a knee on the mattress, he lays her head on the pillow. As he tries to pull away from her, a thin skeletal hand reaches out and grabs his. She pulls it to her face and quietly nuzzles against its smooth surface.

 

Gaster immediately flinches at this and looks around panickingly.  _ Oh stars _ , what now. He looks at his captured hand and her sleeping face.  _ Oh stars. _ His blush intensifies as he felt the light breaths of air she lets out on his metacarpals. His uses his other hand to cover his face in embarrassment.  _ Oh stars _ . Now he really wanted someone to step in to attempt to pull his hand away from her to make it not his fault that she woke up.

 

Compared to a few minutes before, her expression had changed to a more relaxed, peaceful and slightly happier look. At least she’s okay now…

 

“I miss you, Wing D” a soft, but clear mumble was let out of her lips. Gaster could hear it, Gaster could feel it against his hand.

  
  


 

_ “Let’s be friends, like mage buddies. Oh! we can give each other nicknames!” _

_ “Um, I don’t mind any nickname you give me, just not anything with the ‘ding’” _

_ “Okay, you can call me (N/N). Ummm.... what about Wing D?” _

_ “Wing D?” _

_ “Yeah, Wing Dings but just, Wing D!” _

  
  
  


_ “Hmm? What’s up Wing D?” _

  
  
  


“I promise, I’ll wait for you to see me again. No matter the costs. Now, you’ve got to promise me that  _ you’ll  _ live, I hate waiting y’know?”

  
  
  


_ “Wing D!” _

 

 

 

The memory echoes at the back of his skull. The ache in his SOUL returns. He stares in shock at her. It couldn’t be.

 

**“(Y/N)?”**


	19. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaster visits Luminari with Toriel to make sure everything is alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A CHAPTER!! AAhh sorry for disappearing for so long, I had to prioritise so much graded school work over life that I just had to leave this fic on the waiting list. But its the holidays now and I actually have time to write! I had a bit of a writers block a few days back which caused a bit of delay but its here!
> 
> I want to thank everyone that has read this fic, left a kudos and a comment and just everyone of ya'll lovely readers that has stuck with me on this fic. We've reached like 117 kudos which i never though was possible and almost 2000 hits ya'll!! I truly appreciate everyone of you and hope ya like this Chapter!
> 
> I still have that Q/A extra chapter in my head so if anyone has any question about the fic, the characters or you can just post an ask to a chracter in the comments if you want, i'll compile all the questions and answers in that one extra chapter :)

**Gaster P.O.V**

 

The following morning, Gaster rubs the sleep out of his eye sockets, still thinking about last night’s… events. After Luminari has settled down, Sams and Jaws entered the room to make sure everything was okay. The masked right hand thanked him, and he left. Too many things happened yesterday, like a really violent special episode of MTT where every 5 minutes something explodes. 

 

First his son gets shot and almost dusted on the spot, then Luminari starts to give him a motivational speech of sorts and miraculously heals a dying monster. Then they come back and watch the nice don turn all sadistic and scary as she interrogates the shooter, which he found was the most gangster like thing he had ever seen her do. Then she reveals that she is a mage, but no ordinary mage, a mage from the frickin times of the Monster Human War. That makes her like, a few thousand years old, almost as old as him! But that wasn’t the end of his day, he had to come back to the Asterisk house to help with her violent, magical storm of a nightmare. And finally… (Y/N).

 

Frankly, he wasn’t even sure if he heard her right, or wanted to believe that she was the childhood friend that he loved. It might have been just a coincidence, yes, she was unconscious and coincidentally muttered his nickname… that only one person would call him. It was simply just too much for him, and too long. Will she still remember him? Does he want her to remember him? She mentioned the close monster friend that she had, it was probably him unless there was another monster that bothered to travel to her house almost every day, he remembered the long walks from his house to her’s. Thank the stars when he finally learned how to teleport.

 

She couldn’t have recognised him, or at least she hasn’t said anything about knowing Gaster before, she would’ve brought it up when she talked about her past, or at some point of her backstory session. Back then she only called him by his nickname and so did he, at one point of time he’d probably forgotten her real name, her full name. (Y/N) Luminari Asterisk. Of course, it was so obvious. But it probably isn’t as obvious for her to remember him by his name now, back then he only went by Wing Dings Serif, and later “Gaster” after the war.

 

Does she remember the promise? The promise that he still held in his SOUL, to return to her and finally say-... does he feel the same for her? His SOUL beats against his ribcage as he reminiscences about his younger days, spending hours upon hours sitting under the tree, going to her house just to spend time with her. Over time, he had realised, he had loved her. He would tell her when the war was over, hoping that they could possibly spend the rest of their lives together in peace just like the good old days. He hoped that she felt the same about him.

 

She too kept a promise to meet him again. Both of them up till this day, never actually fulfilled that promise made hundreds of years ago. And now they meet again. What now? Half of him wants to wait, wait for their relationship to build from strangers to close friends before he reveals the big secret. Make it less weird than just going ‘hey I was your close friend from the past and I still love you’. Gaster chuckles to himself at the thought. 

 

On the other skele hand, he just wants to spill his SOUL to her. He had missed her, oh so much. When they declared that the humans were going to seal the mages underground, Gaster was distraught. He’d had hoped to see his friend one last time before he said goodbye to her, to show her that he was alright, to see that  _ she _ was alright. He had tried to teleport to her but the mages had already put up a barrier around them and it slowly closed in on them before they had to retreat to the confines of the mountain. He could barely feel her soul then, he’d thought… that she was dead.

 

His mind drifted back to masked Don. She was already tired and depleted of magic after she healed Papyrus, and her outburst last night probably used up the rest of the magic in her. If she was anything like the past, she would be experiencing a recoil from the magic overuse and be in bed with a fever. When they were younger, they tried to experiment with their magic and being excited juveniles tend to go overboard and wake up the next morning with a high fever and fatigue from the over use.

 

Gaster decides to give the house a call to check up on her condition. The phone rings for a while before someone picks up the receiver on the other side. “Asterisk household, state your business.” a tired voice answers, it sounded like Sams.

 

**“Good morning Sams, this is Don Serif. I’m just calling to check on Luminari.”** Gaster replies.

 

“Good morning to you too Don Serif, I’m afraid Don Asterisk is still in bed. We usually let her rest longer the mornings after the nightmares as she may feel unwell, she’ll be fine after resting a few more days.”

 

**“I see, I was afraid you would say that. Lumianri might be experiencing a recoil from the over use of her magic from yesterday’s healing and nightmare episode, does she have a fever?”** Gaster asks.

 

On the other end, Gaster could hear Sams leaving the receiver before coming back a few moments later. “Yes, she does. What can we do?” Sams asks, rather uncharacteristically. There was a hint of desperation mixed with the worry when asked for his help.

 

Gaster cleared his ‘throat’ before continuing **“You can try to reduce the fever by putting a cold wet towel over her forehead- “**

 

“Hold on a second.” Sams interrupts him gently, his voice heard facing away from the receiver “Its Don Gaster, he called to check on you… Are you sure?... Hello Don Serif, Don Asterisk would like to speak to you.” Sams says before handing the phone over.

 

“Good morning Gaster.” A voice laced with fatigue greets him.

 

**“You don’t sound too well, Luminari.”** Gaster replies.

 

“I’ve woken up to better mornings.” she lets out a tired laugh.

 

**“It’s not healthy for you to stay like that for too long. I was thinking that I could go over with some monster food to help replenish your magic.”**

 

“That, that would be lovely Gaster, I’ve almost run out of my emergency liquid magic.” he could hear her smile on the other side.

 

**“I was also thinking of bringing Queen Toriel over to help you with the nightmares. I knew of a few monsters that suffered from vivid nightmares, the queen can use her magic to soothe the mind and reduce the occurence of the nightmares, whatever they may be. Having such frequent episodes can take a big toll on your metal health and in many cases decrease a boss monster’s max HP. I want to help you Lumianri and I’m sure the rest of your family feels the same.”** Gaster adds.

 

There was silence on the other end of the line before Luminari lets out a sigh. “Alright, but I’ll leave you in charge of  _ gently _ explaining to the queen of our predicament. I’m too tired to hide anymore secrets and I trust her highness, she has a wonderfully kind SOUL. Though, I’m not sure if she would take the revelation lightly… I also want to keep this between the three of us only, understand?” she says.

 

Gaster chuckles. **“Crystal, Don Asterisk. Don’t wait up on us and go back to sleep. I’ll be there in an hour.”**

 

Luminari lets out a grunt in agreement before hanging up. Gaster puts the receiver down before standing to get himslef ready for the day. He leaves a note on the dining table for the brothers, informing them of his absence before heading out to the royal’s humble home. After the barrier was broken, Asgore and Toriel let go of their title of king and queen of the monsters and decided to support Gaster and the skeleton brothers in protecting the monsters as part of the ‘monster mafia’. They wanted to focus on giving the little human ambassador, Frisk a wonderful childhood as their adoptive parents and put their family as their top priority. Even though they may try to correct Gaster whenever he calls them by their ex- title, he will forever remember his close friends as such. 

 

Gaster reaches their home and knocks on the front door. He was greeted by a large fluffy smile and hug. “Gaster! How nice of you to visit.” Asgore almost lifts the skeleton off the floor with his strong embrace. “Come, come in, you’re just in time for breakfast. You can join us if you haven’t had anything.” the large goat monster invites him in to the cozy home. 

 

Gaster smiles at the warm welcome, please never change Asgore. **“Thank you Asgore, but I’ve come to ask her majesty for her help.”**

 

“Has something happened?” his happy demeanor shifts to worry.

 

“Well that would be the understatement of the week, but its nothing to worry yourself over old friend.” Gaster pats his on back as they both walk into the dining area to see Toriel serving a slice of butterscotch pie to the young Frisk. Frisk notices him first and give him a wave before digging into their fresh slice of pie. Toriel turns to see the ex royal scientist standing with her husband. “Ah Gaster, it’s good to see you again. Would you like some butterscotch pie?” she offers.

 

**“As lovely as that sounds, I’m afraid I have to decline for now, your majesty”**

 

“Please, drop the ‘majesty’. It’s just Asgore and Toriel now.” She says.

 

**“Toriel, I apologise for interrupting your breakfast, but I’m here to ask for your healing assistance again.”**

 

“Oh my, is Sans having nightmares again?” Her paw goes up to cover her mouth in worry. At the table, he could see the little frame of Frisk deflate as they avoided his gaze.

 

**“No, Sans has had hardly any nightmares, this is another matter. A close friend of mine is having the same problem though.** ” Gaster continues.

 

“Oh?” Toriel looks at him in slight confusion.

 

**“If we could step out for a bit, I can explain everything to you.”** He asks. Toriel nods and leaves Asgore and Frisk to their pie.

 

They close the back door behind them before Toriel speaks up. “So who’s this lucky lady who’s got you worrying over them?” Toriel teases the old doctor, her lips forming a soft smile.

 

**“Its- its not like that.” He unintentionally stutters. He clears his ‘throat’’ and continues “You know of Luminari Asterisk, the human Don that has helped us? Yesterday, Papyrus was shot by an enemy sniper-”**

 

“OH stars is he alright?” Toriel’s expression immediately shifts to shock and worry.

 

**“He’s fine, Don Asterisk helped to heal him before he dusted, and I am deeply grateful for her.”**

 

“Healed him? She’s a mage?” Her eyebrows furrowed. And now the explanation.

 

**“Yes. she revealed that she was a mage even before the war. She was involved in the war as a healer when she was almost killed, but survived an attack that turned her into a half skeleton monster. My assumption is that she is now some sort of boss monster, which is how she is still alive after all these years.”** Gaster breifly explains, watching Toriel as she listens carefully.

 

“Oh my.” Toriel covers her mouth with a large white paw.

 

**“Indeed. After she healed papyrus, she experienced a nightmare, which the other family members expected, meaning that the nightmares must be frequent. I was called last night to help calm her down before anyone got hurt... It was more violent than Sans’. In the process, I think she unconsciously overexerted her magic and is now having a fever in bed. I’m am going to visit her later, and I was hoping that you would be willing to come with me to help heal her, Im worried that the nightmares are harming her more than she knows.”** he finishes.

 

“Indeed, if left alone the nightmares will harm her further. I’ll come with you to her home, let me just pack a few slices of pie for her, I’m sure it will help immensely with the healing.” Toriel says before heading back inside. She tells Asgore and Frisk that she would be paying ‘gaster’s friend’ a visit and will be back. She puts a few slices of the butterscotch pie into a container before the two of them set off to the Asterisk house.

 

**“You’re, talking this quite well, your majesty.”** Gaster says as they make their way into the Asterisk territory.

 

“She may be a mage Gaster, but she has helped us in so many ways, I would not think it would be fair to hold a grudge against her after all she has done for us.” Toriel says. “And plus, she’s a fellow healer, healer mages are never bad people.”

 

They reach the Asterisk house, Toriel looks up to the large building, almost like a mansion in the middle of the city. “Its certainly a large house for a family, I wonder if the members stay with her.”

 

**“They do actually, at least i think the more immediate family members stay under the same roof.”** Gaster replies thinking back to last night when he saw a good number of young adults and adults outside of Luminari’s room. Gaster knocks on the door and takes a step back. “They must really care about each other.” Toriel hums. 

 

A few moments later, the same white haired boy from before opens it. He looks between the two exceptionally tall, judging them both silently. **“You’re, the one named Manny right? We’re here for Luminari.”** Gaster speaks up. He continues to speechlessly blink at them, and then gives him a nod. He opens the door and leads them in.

 

Manny leads them up the stairs and down the corridors the same way Gaster was led last night to Luminari’s room and knocks on the newly replaced door. Creaking it open slightly the young white haired boy speaks “Mother, you have guests.” 

 

A weak murmur could be heard from the other side and Manny opens the door. “Thank you, dear.” Toriel thanks him as they enter the room. They go in to see Luminari sitting up, back resting against the headboard with her mask on. A basin of ice water and a towel sat on her bedside table, probably from Sams when he took Gaster's advice tog reduce the fever. She tries to get up to greet them but Gaster immediately moves to gently push her shoulder back down **“No need get up Luminari, we aren’t the unwell ones.”**

 

She pouts and squints at him with her exposed eye, she turns to Toriel before letting out a tired sigh. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you your majesty, I wasn’t able to welcome you at the mountain as I had some background paperwork to do. I wished we could have met in better circumstances, I assume gaster has filled you in on what happened?”

 

“Yes, he has. It was right for him to call her here” Toriel smiles. Digging into her bag, she brings out the butterscotch pie and offers it to the half human Don. “Here, I made some of my special butterscotch pie for breakfast. It will help to replenish your magic, and please, call me Toriel.”  

 

“Th-thank you, Toriel” Luminari picks up a fork and starts she starts to dig into the pie. She lets out a delightful hum as she took her first bite, immediately brightening up as she shoves more of the pie into her mouth. “My, this must be the best pie I’ve ever had, I feel better already. You  _ have _ to share your recipe with me” she says to Toriel.

 

Toriel laughs and smiles to her “Well my butterscotch pie recipe is a special secret, but you are always welcome to visit and have some more.” Luminari demolishes the pie and sets the empty plate aside and looks down, the mood becomes more serious. ”Are you really able to help me with my nightmares?” Luminari speaks in almost a whisper.

 

“I can use my magic to heal the mind, to help calm your mental state. It's not a permanent cure for the nightmares, but the healing will allow your SOUL to recover and return your HP to what it should be.” Toriel explains.

 

Lumnair nods, biting her lower lip. ”So, how do we proceed?” 

 

“Just lie down and relax, dear. No need to take off the mask if it makes you feel uncomfortable. If you feel like sleeping, just drift to sleep and relax. Think of it as an afternoon nap.” Toriel says. Luminari shifts into a more comfortable position, resting her masked head on the pillow. Toriel then placed bother her paws on either side of her head and they begin to emit a soft green glow. Gaster watched as her eyes drift close and her breathing pattern changed to a more peaceful inhale and exhale.

 

Toriel removes her paws and looks to Gaster. “I can tell that she has been battling the nightmares for a long time, she needs the sleep.” Gaster hums in agreement. The two of them quietly take their leave. Manny was waiting outside for them. Toriel tells the boy that Luminari has been put to sleep and will wake up later that day. He nods silently and leads them out of the house.

 

The two of them walk back to New Home, Gaster walking Toriel back to her home before returning to his. His SOUL quietly thumping against his ribcage, he thinks back to the weird pulls his SOUL experienced to be near Luminari the previous night. It was not wrong for him to be worried for her, but it was out of the ordinary for his SOUL to react like that.

 

Back in the privacy of his room, he brings out his SOUL to give it a quick check. The upside down white heart appears in front of his chest, emitting its usual faint purple glow of ‘perseverance’. He brings it closer to his eye sockets to take a closer look. As he squints his eye lights, he could see a thin purple thread that came out of his SOUL, drifting in the non existent wind. Could this be, a bond? 

 

Having studied SOULs and being the ex royal scientist, he had witnessed many bonds between monsters. The stronger bonds forged between a married couple like Asgore and Toriel were prominent brightly glowing strings that tied the two SOULs together. On the other hand, two monster may form an unconscious bond with each other if they were close enough and their feelings were mutual. 

 

Seeing the thin thread reaffirmed his past with Luminari, as well as brought back is feelings for her. The bond was probably formed when they made the promise, or maybe even before that, and that would mean, that back then she felt the same way about him. His SOUL pulsed as he returned it to his chest. Soon, he will bring it up soon.

 

**Luminari’s POV**

 

Luminari stirs from under her covers as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The room was dark when she fully opened her eyelids. Looking at the clock, it was past dinner. Man, she had slept for the entire day. Her stomach growls hungrily as she gets up from her bed to make herself look presentable before grabbing a bite from the kitchen. Gaster and Toriel had really helped her, if not for them she would be lying in bed until the next morning.

 

Thinking back to the Don, and the skeleton brothers, the sniper,  _ the Galassions. _ She needed to make a quick phone call.

 

“Hello?”   
  
“Hey, Lumi what can do for ya?”

 

“I need a round table for 3, have a red table cloth over it to make it look fancy. Don’t forget the cards and coat, we’re going to put on a show.”


End file.
